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Freeze is an allegorical comedy that dramatizes the Great Ice Storm of '98 as a metaphor for "cooler," more tolerant times in Quebec compared to the separatist "heat" of earlier decades. Five Montrealers find themselves trapped inside the power-outed duplex of Nicole, a pur-laine pro-sovereignty journalist. Her boyfriend Curtis, a Black Anglo jazz musician, arrives with a shocking marriage proposal. Mickey, an Irish gambling-addicted handyman, exploits the storm by selling firewood at exorbitant prices. And Hydro Quebec lineman R?jean tries to do his job, while Claire, the horny elderly neighbor, struggles to mediate. This dysfunctional quintet butt heads over politics and love, provoking us to ponder whether Montreal's "two solitudes" has become a stereotype in this new Century.
About the author
Stephen Orlov is an award-winning Montreal playwright, whose plays have been showcased in such major theatre centres as Montreal, Chicago and London. He is co-editor of Double Exposure: Plays of the Jewish and Palestinian Diasporas and has recently served on the Executive Board of Playwrights Guild of Canada and Playwrights Canada Press.
