Family affair keeps the farce alive

Liars at a Funeral

(out of 4) Written by Sophia Fabiilli. Directed by Ali Joy Richardson. Until May 14 at St. Vladimir Theatre, 620 Spadina Ave. TruthnLiesTheatre.com As a followup to her debut comedy, The Philanderess, a comedic adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s The Philanderer which won the prestigious Outstanding New Comedy award at the 2015 Toronto Fringe Festival, playwright Sophia Fabiilli is keeping the farce alive in indie theatre with Liars at a Funeral.

In small-town Ontario, an es- tranged family converges on Christmas Eve at the local funeral home to mourn the loss of the matriarch, Mavis (Terry Tweed). Mavis’s daughter Evelyn (Rhea Akler) is a closeted lesbian, and enlists her best friend Frank (John Healy) to pose as her boyfriend, because her ex-husband Bruce (also Healy) will be there — they haven’t seen each other since Bruce married Sheila, Evelyn’s twin.

Also coming to town is Evelyn and Bruce’s daughter Mia (Ruby Joy), with a new boyfriend Cam (Danny Pagett) and a bigger surprise in tow — Mia hasn’t seen her twin sister DeeDee (also Joy) in 11 years since a traumatic opening of a high school production of Hamlet.

But the funeral doesn’t turn out as it seems, as Mavis, DeeDee and a funeral home employee Quint (Pagett) hatched a scheme to bring the family together and break the “curse” of feuding twins.

Fabiilli’s script is as full of exits, entrances and quick changes as the premise would suggest, and the entire saga is unfolds tightly and clearly in Ali Joy Richardson’s direction. The Act 1 climax that takes place during a power outage (naturally) is especially evocative of the nicely paired match of Fabiilli’s writing and sense of humour, and Richardson’s handle on stage images and movement (it’s just a little unfortunate that the energy created by this sequence is capped off by a less thrilling final moment before the act ends).

While the first act is explosive exposition, the second act settles into a mix of character-driven comedy and family drama, and Fabiilli fortunately adds some weight to her script with a backstory to DeeDee and Mia’s rift that’s reasonably devastating.

But Fabiilli’s other attempts to weave in moments of tenderness and forgiveness don’t always come through, such as a moment of honesty between Evelyn in her sister’s glasses and a drunk Bruce, or an unnamed connection between DeeDee and Quint (leading to a closing image that could use more clarification). But a strong ensemble lead by the comedic abilities of Joy and Pagett keep the show from losing all of its momentum.

Fabiilli’s sophomore work could use some tightening, but it’s a promising example of her broad appeal — her name might eventually appear at summer festivals in Ontario towns like the one here in Liars at a Funeral.

While the first act is explosive exposition, the second act settles into a mix of character-driven comedy and family drama