Actors work brilliant overtime in funny ATP production of Liars at a Funeral
Helen Knight, Tyrell Crews, Joel David Taylor and Grace Fedorchuk in Liars at a Funeral at Alberta Theatre Projects through May 11. (Photo by Benjamin Laird)
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CTV News
03-05-2025
- CTV News
Actors work brilliant overtime in funny ATP production of Liars at a Funeral
Helen Knight, Tyrell Crews, Joel David Taylor and Grace Fedorchuk in Liars at a Funeral at Alberta Theatre Projects through May 11. (Photo by Benjamin Laird)
Calgary Herald
30-04-2025
- Calgary Herald
Calgary theatre community mourns loss of Jen Darbellay, killed in Vancouver festival tragedy: 'She really left an imprint'
As Canadians grieve the victims of Saturday's devastating attack at Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Day festival, Calgary's theatre community is mourning the loss of one of its own in the tragedy. Article content Article content Jen Darbellay, a 50-year-old mother of two and a celebrated costume designer who spent years working in Calgary's theatre scene, was among those killed after an SUV drove into a crowd of festivalgoers last weekend. She is survived by her husband, Noel Johansen, and 7-year-old daughter Darby – both injured in the attack – and son Ford, 15. Article content Article content Darbellay is remembered not only for her creative brilliance but for her warmth, gentleness and generosity. Friends and former colleagues describe her as a 'rare artist' and a kind soul who left a lasting impression on everyone she worked with. Article content Article content 'This is really hitting the heart of the community,' said playwright Eugene Stickland, who first met Darbellay in the late 1990s when she took a playwriting course he taught at Alberta Theatre Projects. 'The Calgary theatre community is like a big family. So we're all aware of each other and care what happens to one another.' Article content 'It hurts,' he said. 'It's just shock and then disbelief.' Article content 'Even when she was young, she was just a genuinely nice and kind person … very soft spoken, very gentle. She's the last person you would want to have to endure something like she went through.' Article content Article content Stickland said he was stunned to learn Darbellay was among the victims of the attack. His wife, who is Filipino, has family in Vancouver and, in the immediate aftermath of the attack, was checking in with relatives to make sure they were safe. Article content '(It) never occurred to me in a million years that I would know someone … let alone someone that I know from Calgary,' he said. 'It just goes to show you how capricious these things are … It makes so little sense.' Article content
Calgary Herald
25-04-2025
- Calgary Herald
Review: Liars at a Funeral a mapcap evening of multi-character shenanigans
The laughs come fast and frequently in Alberta Theatre Projects' Liars at a Funeral, Sophia Fabiilli's deft farce about a matriarch's desperate attempt to heal the wounds in her dysfunctional family. Article content Mavis believes the root of the problem is a family curse of twin girls. Her daughter Evelyn only got as far as the parking lot for her twin Sheila's funeral, and Evelyn's twin girls, Deedee and Mia, haven't spoken to each other for a decade. Marvis feels that if they could all just get in the same room, they could dispense with their petty grievances. So she fakes her death and invites them all to her funeral. Article content The clever device in Fabiilli's play is that the actors each play two characters. Article content Article content Tyrell Crews plays Wayne, Evelyn's husband, who married Sheila when Evelyn divorced him, and Frank, Evelyn's gay friend who pretends to be her boyfriend from Vancouver. Helen Knight plays Evelyn and Leorah, the libertine owner of the funeral parlour who returns unexpectedly, and must be kept in the dark as much as possible. Article content Grace Fedorchuk plays both DeeDee and Mia, with Joel David Taylor playing their respective love interests, Cam and Quint, Leorah's trainee undertaker who is hoping for a promotion. To complicate matters, and to highlight the curse, Mia is pregnant with twin girls. Article content Anton DeGroot's set has enough doors and entrances so the actors can exit, make their quick costume changes, and re-enter as their alternate character from a different entrance. Even the coffin, which occupies the centrestage, is used in this ruse. Article content The gimmick in Liar at a Funeral is an actor's dream, especially with the way Fabiilli has written the characters. Article content Article content Crews gets to be the gay friend who has to act straight, and the lush and Leorah's sex toy that Wayne has become. Costume-wise, it's just shoes and jackets, but the two men couldn't be more different, and Crews has great fun being both. His comic timing is impeccable, and, especially with Frank, there is always a sly wink that lets the audience know they are in on the joke. Article content Knight has great fun with Leorah, the sexpot who is a bit of a tyrant to her poor underling Quint, and, her Evelyn is always just shy of discovering what's going on. She's desperate for her mother and daughter not to discover she has a girlfriend in Vancouver, which is why it is so important for Frank to play the dutiful boyfriend. The fact that most of the characters have their own secrets doubles the fun for the audience because they are aware of all these machinations.
