This Chekhovian idyll is punctuated by metaphorical zombies, women bearing pies, strange sounds in the night and suffused with love and loss. A philosophical romantic comedy, The Pessimist asks us to consider how we keep living, when life as we know it is ending. The Pessimist is a companion piece to Brebner's The Optimists (Scirocco Drama, 2006), which was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama.