Written when Dubé was 21 and based on memories of his childhood,[1] Zone revolves around a gang of teenaged Québécois criminals who sell contraband cigarettes,[2] and the internal conflicts that ultimately tear the group apart.
[4] Tarzan assembles a group of teenagers who, under the stress of their familial or economic situations, agree to sell cigarettes smuggled into Canada from the United States.
Ciboulette, the youngest of the group and the only female, is in love with Tarzan, but does not reveal this despite Tit-Noir's urging, as she is worried it will ruin the business.
[14] Zone takes place in a "squalid" environment,[15] familiar territory for Dubé, whose works often dealt with the social disorder in French Canada at that time.
[19] The irony is that the gang, who began engaging in criminal activities to escape the societal "grey zone" they inhabit, are ultimately punished by the same society that offered them no support.
Edwin Hamblet criticized Zone for its "sudden and perfunctory" conclusion, finding that "Dubé tends to have trouble in ending his plays" and citing the artificiality of the plot twists.