A play for children 9 years old and up

Norah's Ark

The journey from childhood to adulthood.

Alone in her boat, the survivor of a flood, Norah has only herself to count on for survival. Her sole possessions are a bird in a cage, a tape recorder, a package of spaghetti, a bottle of water, a bag of cookies, a shower curtain, a few photographs, and a candle... Norah's imagination flows in torrents as she tries to keep her spirits up. After 40 days and 40 nights adrift, Norah, and we with her, completes her vertiginous passage from chilhood to adulthood.

This play was staged read at Carrefour international de théâtre in Quebec city and at Le Rendez-vous international de théâtre jeune public in Montreal. In 1998, Les Gros Becs productions invited Théâtre Bouches Décousues in Quebec city to first perform L'Arche de Noémie. The following year, the Théâtrales association welcomed Jasmine Dubé in France for the reading of her play, at the Saint-Denis library. In 2002, this show was presented at the Méli'Môme festival in Reims and at La Tête dans les nuages festival in Angoulême, beginning a long European tour. Nominated for the 1997 Radio France Internationale / Francophonie Jeunesse award and for the Governor general's award in the drama category.

Cast: Suzanne Lemoine

L'Arche de Noémie is published by Lanctôt Éditeur and is in the Théâtrales repertoire (Paris).
Translation by Linda Gaboriau, 1999.

NORAH : Laugh at me, wind, laugh. I'm lost in this immensity, and yet, there are days when I feel as if I'm as strong as you. As big as you, sea. As big as you, sky. Inside me, there's a sky, an ocean. I look for my mother in the sea, and I find her inside me.