Can a funeral be funny? In director Aaron Jan’s hands, the answer is an emphatic yes.
In his program note, Jan cites one of Canadian playwright Sophia Fabiilli’s most brazen lines spoken by one of the characters:
“Look death in the eyes and grab life by the balls.”
That irreverent spirit animates this opening-night staging of Fabiilli’s Liars at a Funeral, now playing at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre. Jan keeps the comedy buoyant without losing sight of the family bruises beneath it.
Liars opens on a rain-soaked, thunder and lightning night in a funeral home, where an estranged family gathers to mourn matriarch Mavis (Carolyn Fe) — or so they think. What follows is a deluge of misunderstandings, old resentments, family secrets and an intergenerational curse, all whipped into a nimble, escalating frenzy.
What makes the production comedic is the cast’s commitment to playing the absurdity straight. Jan’s five performers never wink at the material; they root every outlandish turn in genuine stakes, which gives the comedy both speed and shape.
The doubling is one of the fun parts of the production. Ericka Leobrera cleanly distinguishes the estranged twins Deedee and Mia, while Jane Luk deftly splits the difference between the tightly wound Evelyn and the sexually charged, flamboyant funeral director Leorah. Aidan deSalaiz draws sly parallels between Wayne, Evelyn’s supportive friend, and Frank, the twins’ estranged father. Gregory Solomon gives Quint an appealing awkwardness, then pivots neatly into Mia’s blissfully eccentric partner, Cam. Fe anchors Mavis, the family matriarch, with commanding feistiness. There are more plot twists, and I don’t want to give them away. The production needs to be enjoyed by discovering its absurdities firsthand.
Visually, set designer Joyce Padua and lighting designer Jareth Li conjure a pristine funeral home in shades of ethereal white, with a handsome casket upstage centre and four strategically placed doors that keep the entrances and exits snapping. Maddie Bautista’s pre-show music adds a wry note of commentary, while Laura Gardner’s costumes neatly sketch each character’s eccentricity. A praiseworthy word, too, for assistant stage manager Frank/ie, whose backstage precision is essential to a production built on rapid prop handoffs and quick changes.
Crucially, Jan never lets the stage business tip into chaos for its own sake. He shapes Fabiilli’s script as a play about family loyalty surviving bruised egos, buried grievances and generational misunderstandings. In this production, that emotional through-line is further enriched by its Chinese funeral setting, which adds specificity without dulling the play’s broad comic appeal.
The ensemble solidly meets Jan’s rapid-fire pacing and staging. Costume changes are swift, entrances are clean, and the production’s comic machinery rarely misses a beat.
Performance by performance, the cast delivers decent work. By the end of the run, the production will become a sharp farce on how individuals deal with grieving. Fe gives Mavis a crackling authority. Luk relishes Leorah’s theatrical bravado while grounding Evelyn in recognizably human frustration. Solomon makes an endearing underdog of Quint and gets excellent mileage from Cam’s brainless ‘boy toy’ physicality. Leobrera clearly differentiates Deedee and Mia, and deSalaiz brings texture to two men linked by their very different failures.
What lingers, beyond the laughs, is the production’s recognition that comedy and mourning are not opposites but companions. This is a play that understands how families wound and sustain one another, sometimes in the same breath.
This Capitol staging also deepens the material by immersing the audience in a Chinese funeral setting, a choice made with the playwright’s permission. The revised dialogue and visual details — including the use of fruit near the casket and the prominence of white — add a layer of cultural texture that feels both instructive and dramatically integrated.
It’s a bonus when the theatre manages to entertain and illuminate.
Liars at a Funeral does both.
Running time: approximately two hours with one intermission.
The production runs to June 28 on the Mainstage at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, 20 Queen Street. For tickets: capitoltheatre.com or call (905-885-1071)
PORT HOPE CAPITOL THEATRE presents
Liars at a Funeral by Sophia Fabiilli
Directed by Aaron Jan
Set Designer: Joyce Padua
Sound Designer: Maddie Bautista
Costume Designer: Laura Gardner
Lighting Designer: Jareth Li
Fight and Intimacy Director: Siobhan Richardson
Stage Manager: Wei Qing Tan
Assistant Stage Manager: Frank/Ie
Performers: Carolyn Fe, Ericka Leobrera, Gregory Solomon, Jane Luk, Aidan deSalaiz
