You Are Happy
- Publisher
- Playwrights Canada Press
- Initial publish date
- Apr 2016
- Category
- Women Authors, Canadian
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781770915381
- Publish Date
- Apr 2016
- List Price
- $17.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781770915404
- Publish Date
- Apr 2016
- List Price
- $12.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Bridget finds her brother Jeremy in a closet attempting suicide. Again. Determined to help him find some kind of happiness, she carts around grocery stores looking for his potential wife. Bridget’s search affirms what she already thinks: there are couples practically everywhere. Eventually finding her way into the aisle with the razor blades, she meets Chloe and her plans to stage a happily-ever-after are finally set.
About the authors
Rébecca Déraspe graduated from the playwriting program of the National Theatre School of Canada in May 2010. She is the author of several plays which have been translated and produced internationally, including Deux ans de votre vie (English title: You Are Happy); Gamètes (English title: Gametes); Je suis William (English title: I Am William); Faire la leçon (English title: The Lessons); Plus que toi; Peau d'ours; Nino; Le merveilleux voyage de Réal de Montréal; Partout ailleurs; Nos petits doigts; Ceux qui se sont évaporés; and Fanny. She is currently Playwright-in-Residence at Montreal's Théâtre la Licorne. Her work has been awarded the 2010 Prix BMO (for You Are Happy); the 2017 Montreal theatre critics' prize for Best New Play (Gametes); the 2018 Montreal theatre critics' prize for Best New Play for Young Audiences as well as the Prix Louise-Lahaye (I Am William); and most recently, the Prix Michel-Tremblay, for her new play Ceux qui se sont évaporés. She is also the writer and host of the web series Le lexique de la polâmique, produced and distributed by Savoir Media.
Rébecca Déraspe's profile page
Leanna Brodie is an actor, writer and translator. Her plays (published by Talonbooks) include For Home and Country, The Vic and Schoolhouse, as well as CBC radio dramas Invisible City and Seeds of Our Destruction. She was the first Canadian invited to the ACT/Hedgebrook Women Playwrights’ Festival. She also translates Quebec drama into English—most recently, Louise Bombardier’s Ma mère chien and Hélène Ducharme’s Baobab. Her libretti were heard in Tapestry New Opera Works’ Opera to Go 2008; in David Ogborn’s acclaimed site-specific piece, Opera on the Rocks; and in Emergence, his song cycle featuring a singing robot. The Angle of Reflection, with New Zealand composer Anthony Young, was produced by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. This season, The Book of Esther, a love story about urban queers and rural evangelicals, premieres at the Blyth Festival. Schoolhouse has been seen by over 20, 000 Canadians in multiple sold-out runs, and is slated for further productions in 2010.
Awards
- Winner, Prix Auteur Dramatique BMO Groupe Financier for Best New Play
Excerpt: You Are Happy (by (author) Rébecca Déraspe; translated by Leanna Brodie)
“You’re happy You’re telling yourselves at last my pillows’ll be divided into two distinct halves One on the left side of my bed One on the right My hypothetical crabs will stay between Jeremy and myself You think well that’s a relief. I’ll finally be able to share my Hydro bills That’s pretty significant in your opinion Not to mention that a single woman Is someone who might steal your man You smile Or that a single woman Is someone you might sleep with and ruin your nice relationship Yeah you’re very happy.”