BF23: Fabiilli gets hilarious with season-opening 'Liars at a Funeral
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
On the lighter side of the Blyth Festival’s 2023 season is the hilarious comedy of errors Liars at a Funeral. This show was first staged at St. Vladimir’s Theatre in Toronto in 2017.
Actor, producer and playwright Sophia Fabiilli is the scribe behind Liars at a Funeral.
Fabiilli has found previous success in the farcical world in adapting George Bernard Shaw’s The Philanderer, which won The Second City Award for Outstanding New Comedy at the 2015 Fringe Festival. She has also written for the educational children’s program Odd Squad Mobile Unit produced by Fred Rogers Co. She is a mentor for Community Living, teaches students and is known for her roles in Incorporated and Walter.
This year will be the first time Liars will be staged in Blyth, but not for lack of trying. The play was set to open the Blyth Festival’s 2020 season, only to be stymied by the pandemic. “When it was cancelled in 2020, Gil promised me that we would put it on, and he’s a man of his word,” said Fabiilli. “Every emerging playwright should have someone like Gil who will stand behind them. The director, Krista [Jackson], has also just been a beacon of hope for this play for years now… I feel like I’ve got a really amazing team.”
While this is her first time having one of her own plays staged at the Festival, it’s not Fabiilli’s first time in town. “My relationship with the Blyth Festival started with the Ellen Ross Stuart Opening Doors Award, which is very generously supported by Ann and Ross Stuart.” The Stuarts partnered with the Ontario Arts Foundation to create an award to honour their late daughter, Nel, who was herself a talented young playwright, with the intent of assisting young writers to engage with their craft. The award is supported by the Blyth Festival, Tarragon Theatre and Hart House Theatre and Fabiilli was its inaugural winner in 2018. “Through the award, I was introduced to Gil, and spent some time in Blyth one summer and that’s what got the ball rolling.”
The young writer remembers her previous time here fondly. “I walked around the town and saw how beautiful it was, and how tranquil it was and, of course, I did some writing. How cool is it that there’s this amazing theatre in this amazing little place? I’m just in awe of the community that surrounds the Festival.”
Fabiilli is excited to see what this latest iteration of her work becomes. She may have penned the play years ago, but that doesn’t mean things haven’t changed. “We did a polish on the script about a month ago… spending time away from a script and then approaching it with fresh eyes, as frustrating as it is, always leads to something better,” she explained. “I don’t even remember what the seed of the idea was. I started writing it in 2016 and it’s gone through many different drafts since then. I know I wanted to write a big, messy, hilarious story about a dysfunctional family…. I’ve never written a play with so many characters before. Tracking that many characters is a challenge and a delight - having such a big cast is definitely new to me.”
The list of characters may be long, but the actors’ call sheet is significantly shorter, as almost every actor in the production is playing two characters - a choice made early on in the writing process. Fabiilli explained the sensibilities behind this decision. “I think that started from a very practical place - how do you write a big family comedy with a lot of people, when you know the realities of producing? If I wrote a play with 10 characters, it’ll never get produced. And having everybody play two people creates a sort of chaotic theatre magic.”
Liars at a Funeral is a madcap story centred on the machinations of family matriarch Mavis and her attempt to reunite her family by faking her own death. Blyth Festival’s Mavis will be ably portrayed by renowned Canadian actress Nora McLellan. “I saw Nora in a show in Toronto called John by Annie Baker. She had a very long monologue at one point, and I just remember thinking how brilliant and how hilarious she is.” Fabiilli wasn’t the only person who thought so - in 2017, Nora McLellan won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Female Performance in the Independent Theatre Division for her role as Genevieve in John.
Fabiilli is excited about a lot of different things this Festival season. “I do have a busy summer ahead, but I’m going to do my best to take in other shows at the Festival. I’m excited for the three-part Donnellys play - that’s going to be really cool. That’s such a huge feat, you know?” Gil Garratt’s abridged version of James Reaney’s The Donnellys: A Trilogy will be premiering on the Harvest Stage in June.
She’s also excited to get back into a full swing theatre experience. “After living through COVID, I’m excited to play catch-up. I get to write a story where people come and drive their car and park and sit down and get a drink at intermission - the fact that they will go through this whole experience to take in what I wrote feels incredibly special to me.” The live theatre experience is one that Fabiilli has missed greatly. “I think there’s a reason we’ve been going to the theatre since ancient Greek times. There is something magical about sitting in the dark with other people, taking in a story. I think it’s part of our humanity.”
What advice does Fabiilli have for Blyth’s aspiring young playwrights? “Tell a story that’s only yours to tell and tell the story that’s burning to be told. Write the story that you can’t not tell.”
Liars at a Funeral premieres June 14 at Memorial Hall. Tickets are available online at blythfestival.com, by phone at 1-877-862-5984, or in-person at the Blyth Festival box office.