Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer

A bold, quirky play from the renowned Quebecois writer, translated into a robust and earthy Scots.

On six moonlit Montreal balconies on a sultry summer's evening, eleven people tell their stories of love. Isabelle and Yannick are alive and ecstatic with the thrill of first love. Jeannine and Louise are in torment that their love may be dying. Rose and her son, Mathieu, are suspended in silent complicity, fearful of the other's pain. Gaston and his daughter, Mireille, are caught in a trap of need and blame. Yvon and Gérard are bound to one another through longing and guilt. The Widow sits alone with the memory of a perfect love...

Inspired by the discovery of a lost mass by Berlioz, Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer dispenses with religion but keeps the ritual to lay its characters bare.

Michel Tremblay's play, Messe solennelle pour une pleine lune d'été, was first staged in 1996. This translation, by Martin Bowman and Bill Findlay, was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 2000, transferring to the Barbican, London.