Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP) is thrilled to be bringing Canadian playwright Sophia Fabiilli’s uproarious comedy Liars at a Funeral to the Martha Cohen Theatre from April 22 – May 11. Produced in association with Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops, Liars at a Funeral is a laugh-out-loud romp through the absurdities of family dynamics and the lengths we go to for love and connection. 

Grandma Mavis stages her own funeral to reunite her estranged family…just in time for a storm to trap them all in a funeral home. But, little does she know, she’s not the only family member bending the truth. Can this eccentric clan of liars navigate the rocky road to reconciliation? Or will the next 24 hours be the final nail in this dysfunctional family’s coffin?

Find out a little more about “one of the most enjoyable theatre experiences you are likely to have this or any other season” (Ontariostage.com): Liars at a Funeral! 

1. The play’s 9 characters are played by only 5 actors. This cast doubling, the farcical structure of the play, the wild family dynamics, and the overall hilarity may remind audiences of Alberta Theatre Projects’ 2019 production of The Wedding Party by Kristen Thomson.

2. In one Vancouver production, two of the characters were actually played by a set of twins, rather than one solo actor playing dual roles (like most of the other performers in the show). This was kept out of the program and promotional materials so that audiences would be all the more baffled by some of the impossibly fast quick changes and exit/entrance turn-arounds. Folks were let in on the joke only when the actors took their bows at the end of each performance.

3. Playwright Sophia Fabiilli wrote an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s The Philanderer. The adaptation won The Second City Award for Outstanding New Comedy at the 2015 Fringe Festival.

4. Krista Jackson, a director and dramaturg who worked on the play throughout its development, said of Fabiilli’s style, “This kind of comedy that Sophia writes so beautifully, it’s all about precision; and it’s, door-slams, and it’s, timings, and it’s, making sure that you don’t let the air out of the balloon… it’s like choreography sometimes. At the same time, it has to have room to breathe.”

5. In an interview with The Thousand Islands Playhouse Podcast, Fabiilli said that she and Jackson would use “creepy little plasticine babies” with all the different character names on them to keep track of which character was doing what, where, and when – not just for their own clarity when developing the play, but to make sure it was clear for the audience as well. In the early stages, they would also add small charts to the script every 10 pages or so, indicating where each character was at that time.

Bonus fact! We completely made up one of these facts! Can YOU spot the lie? (Get it? Because there are Liars at a Funeral? Yeah, you get it.) Check out this page for the answer! 

Check out Liars at a Funeral, Alberta Theatre Projects’ final production of the 2024-25 50th Anniversary Season from April 22 – May 11, 2025. For tickets and more information about the show, visit us HERE!