NMU Presents 'Tragedy Sound' Play Based in the U.P.

"Tragedy Sound," a play about three lifelong friends from the Upper Peninsula who become stranded on Lake Superior after accepting a reckless dare to embark on a canoe trek, is the most recent work by 1996 Northern Michigan University alumna and Mass City native Karen Saari. The winner of NMU's Panowski Playwriting Award will be presented at 7:30 p.m. May 14-16 in the Panowski Black Box Theatre.

Saari's writing often delves into relationships rooted in the culture and landscapes of the Upper Peninsula. Her new play revolves around Becky, Billie and Mariel, young women on a paddling excursion through a fictional waterway known as Tragedy Sound. After agreeing to retrieve something left behind by a group of men for a few hundred dollars, the women quickly find themselves in over their heads as weather conditions worsen on Lake Superior.

"They have that foolish mentality of, 'Nothing bad ever happens around here. We'll be fine. We've done this before.' And then Mother Nature takes a turn," said Saari. "The story explores some serious topics such as mortality, motherhood, addiction and the feeling of being trapped in a struggling hometown, but there's also a lot of humor."

The idea for "Tragedy Sound" began forming several years ago after Saari heard an old story about some boys she grew up with. Rather than retell that experience directly, she began imagining how the story would change if it centered on women.

"I remember thinking, 'I don't really need to tell another story about a bunch of guys; there are plenty of those,'" she said. "Instead, I started thinking about the daring and reckless things my friends and I did when we were teenagers. I thought, 'What if some girls took a dare that went wrong?' A lot of the deeper discussions come out because they're tired, hungover and uncertain if they're going to make it home safely. They're forced to confront choices they've made and the lives they've built."

"Tragedy Sound" received its world premiere last July at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, Tenn., after winning that theater company's new works competition. The executive producer there, Michael Detroit, is also an NMU graduate. He worked with NMU faculty to create a pipeline connecting the national competition to the Panowski Playwriting Award. Saari's play later had its Wisconsin premiere at Edgewood University in Madison, where she now lives, before making its way to NMU.

"It's a very full-circle feeling," said Saari, who teaches theater courses and serves as department chair of Theater and Speech at Madison Area Technical College. "When I was back in January for the staged reading, I connected with old friends and spent time on campus again. To see this play in the Panowski Black Box is going to feel surreal because I spent so much time in that space as a student."

The production also presents unique staging challenges, given that much of the action unfolds on the water. Previous productions have approached the problem creatively. In Memphis, designers used movable stumps and a massive illuminated sheet of fabric to simulate waves. Another production used a specially rigged canoe.

"As a playwright, sometimes you just have to trust that skilled directors and designers will figure out how to tell the story," Saari added. "If the audience is invested in the characters, they'll go along for the ride. My hope is that audiences will connect with the play's themes of friendship, resilience and complicated hometown ties. Parts of the Upper Peninsula can feel so isolated and underserved. I remember thinking about that as a first-generation college student, wondering how you change your circumstances, how you move forward and what choices are possible."

"Tragedy Sound" is directed by Keli Crawford-Truckey and is being presented as part of NMU's 2026 North Coast Theatre and Dance Festival. Tickets are $25 for the general public; $22 for NMU employees, seniors and military members; $15 for youth; and $5 for NMU students. They are available at nmu.edu/tickets.

Read a story on a previous Michigan world premiere of one of Saari's plays in November 2024 here and a 2023 "Northern Magazine" feature story on Saari and some of her other works that reflect her U.P. roots here.