Zone (play)

Zone is a French-language three-act play written by French-Canadian author Marcel Dubé. It revolves around Tarzan, a leader of a group of young criminals who sell American cigarettes illegally. The title "Zone" refers to the fact that each of the contrabandists were stuck in a zone of society where it was almost impossible to save oneself from the poor lifestyle.

Characters

Ciboulette: The main character of the play. She is the youngest at 16 years of age, and also the only female in the play. She is in love with Tarzan, however does not reveal this to him. She lives in a fantasy world. She also thinks that her parents don't love her.

Tarzan: Tarzan is the leader of the group of contrabandists. He crosses the American border to retrieve the cigarettes, and brings them back to Quebec where his group sells them. He is also in love with Ciboulette, however he is more realistic than she is. When time comes for him to leave to go back to jail, Ciboulette wants them to go into the shed and get married, however he knows that she will not have a happily-ever-after with him. It is revealed during his interrogation that his real name is François Boudreau, and that he is an orphan.

Passe-partout: Passe-Partout is the traitor of the group. He is the one who accidentally leads the authorities to the shed where their illegal cigarettes are hidden. He is all too happy during the interrogation to tell the police everything he knew, and is the one who tells them that Tarzan crossed the border the day a border-control officer was killed. He has an ego-problem, however he is a coward. It is revealed during his interrogation that his real name is René Langlois, and that he joined the group to provide food for his mother, because his father drinks his paycheck. He is also in love with Ciboulette, which only complicates the situation between him and Tarzan. for example Passe Partout says to Ciboulette; "Laisse-moi t'embrasser et je te donne tout; je te rendrai riche, je te volerai des perles, des bracelets, des colliers." Translated this means, let me hug you and I'll give you everything, I'll make you rich, I'll steal pearls, bracelets, and necklaces for you.

Tit-Noir: Tit-Noir is the accountant. It is revealed during his interrogation that his real name is Arsène Larue, and that he joined the group to get money for his future family and to study to become a priest. His nickname is "Tit-Noir" because when he was little, he had black hair so his father called him "Petit-Noir" which eventually transformed into "Tit-Noir"

Moineau: Moineau is the most artistic of the group. He often plays the harmonica, and joined the group so that he could become a musician. He is often day-dreaming off in his own little world, and is very sensitive. He likes to read comics. His name comes from the french word for minnow, humorously referring him to be about as strong and smart as a tiny fish. His intelligence level is clearly shown several times throughout the reading. For example, he says once in the book: "C'est vrai qu'y a toujours une ligne blanche pour séparer deux pays?" roughly translated to: "Is it true there's always a white line separating two countries?".

Johny: Johny is the least seen in the play, with only two lines. In the original performance, he was performed by Marcel Dubé. He drives the truck to the border with Tarzan. It is unclear whether or not he is an official member of the group, or just the chauffer.

The Police Chief: The chief of police is only seen during act two, which is when they interrogated the group. He has a very clever interrogation strategy, causing pretty much every member to reveal something they did not intend to tell. He has a son about the age of Tarzan, which made it harder for him to send Tarzan to jail.

Ledoux: Ledoux is the detective that follows Passe-Partout to the shed.

Roger: Roger is a police officer that was present during the interrogations. He is the most violent.

Synopsis

Tarzan gathers a group of young teenagers who will sell cigarettes he smuggles in from the United-States. Ciboulette, the youngest of the group and also the only female, is in love with Tarzan. She does not confess her love for she doesn't want to disrupt his thoughts, and she is too shy. During the first act, we see that the whole of the risks are taken by Tarzan. Indeed, he is the one who risks getting caught when jumping between lines of the countries (Canada and United-States). While he does that, the goal of the rest of the team is to first: provide for themselves an alibi, by working, so that people do not suspect them of anything. Their second goal is to look for potential clients and take the orders from them on the number of cigarettes they want. Finally, they have to cover all traces of their "extra-credit" work, so that nothing can be found behind them. During this act, we are introduced to the characters, we learn that Tarzan is late and everyone fears that he has been caught. We learn that Moineau is the keeper of the stock, he is on watch to make sure nobody gets too curious about their hiding spot. Tit-Noir, is the bookie, he keeps the count of the stock, the amount they sell and the amount to deliver. What is important, is the fact that everybody except Passe-Partout loves and respects Tarzan, and are very thankful to him for trying to make their lives better. Also, we learn that Passe-Partout is stealing wallets, ties and other things, which is not allowed by Tarzan as it might draw the police's attention to them. This is exactly what happens, as one of Passe-Partout's "victims" is the police officer, Ledoux. He follows him to their hiding spot and then orders a whole patrol to surround the building. The first act finishes as the small group tries to escape. End of Act 1.

Act 2 starts in the interrogation room of the police department. The Chief calls in one after the other every member of the small band and through some mischievous mind tricks learns a little bit of information from each of them. After interrogating Tit-Noir, they receive a phone call informing them of the murder of a border patrol officer earlier that day. They call in Ciboulette and announce to her that they know almost everything, but just need a small detail to be satisfied. She resists them as she can, but when the chief mentions that an American was killed that day, her face shows her surprise and fear that it was Tarzan who killed him. She faints. The chief then calls Tarzan but he doesn't betray himself, even though he comes close when the chief tells him that Ciboulette fainted. After his failure with Tarzan the chief is forced to use his last card. They learn from Passe-Partout, who was all too eager to help for a good deal, that Tarzan had crossed the border that very day. Tarzan is then brought back to the room and pressured into confessing. He soon confesses that he killed the officer. End of Act 2.

The group gets free except Tarzan. Tarzan escapes jail and then goes to find Ciboulette. He then confesses his affection toward her. Ciboulette suggests a makeshift marriage in the shed within the hangar. Tarzan refuses, not wanting to make his believed certain death more painful than it needs being. Ciboulette urges him to take his chances, betting the one in a hundred odds against certain death. After dialogue between Ciboulette and Tarzan concerning their feelings for each other, Tarzan runs off into the night. Heard shortly suit are several gunshots, ending in silence. Roger enters the scene, brandishing a revolver. The closing scene details Ciboulette lying over Tarzan's corpse. End of Act 3.