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The Pessimist

The Pessimist
Your Price: $18.95 CDN
Author: Morwyn Brebner
Publisher: Scirocco Drama
Format: Softcover
# of Pages: 71
Pub. Date: 2007
ISBN-10: 1897289227
ISBN-13: 9781897289228
Cast Size: 2 women, 3 men

About the Play:

The Pessimist is a full-length comedy by Morwyn Brebner. Sex, death, theatre, zombies, pies – when you're out in the country you never know who, or what, you'll meet. A dying theatre director decides to stage his last play at the town's garbage dump. His wife, a playwright, a would-be actress and a politician all join him and between bouts of insomnia, fight their fear of the unnamable and hope for the best. A philosophical romantic comedy, The Pessimist asks us to consider how we keep living, when life as we know it is ending.

The Pessimist introduces us to a motley troupe of artists: Marcus, a dying theatre director riddled with cancer; his cynical wife and former actress Suzanne; the mediocre playwright Wheal; a young wanna-be lead actress who delights in the adulterous, Scarlet Letter name of Hestorpryne, and a bumbling political candidate called Philip. This nest of thespians joins forces to stage a zombie play in a small-town garbage dump filled with toxic waste. Their rented farmhouse becomes a refuge from reality where romance, sex, camaraderie and conversation attempt to stave off the inevitable. This Chekhovian idyll is punctuated by metaphorical zombies, women bearing pies, strange sounds in the night – and suffused with love and loss. The Pessimist is a companion piece to the The Optimists, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama.

The Pessimist premiered in 2007 at Taragon Theatre in Toronto.

Cast: 2 women, 3 men

What people say:

"Brilliant, hilarious playwright Morwyn Brebner's latest work plumbs the mad depths of insomnia." — The Globe and Mail

Cast: 2 women, 3 men

About the Playwright:

Morwyn Brebner is a Canadian screenwriter and award-winning playwright. Born in Cardiff, Wales, she grew up on Ottawa, and is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada's playwriting program. She is the creator and showrunner of CBC's hit series Coroner, and co-created Saving Hope (CTV/ION), on which she was an executive producer and showrunner for the first three seasons. She also co-created the ABC and Global Television drama series Rookie Blue.

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