I was very pleased to see the production of Morris Panych’s early play Vigil, on now at the Belfry. I have read but have never before seen this play, and it’s a good one, from one of Canada’s best playwrights. The plot is simple: a man named Kemp (Anton Lipovetsky) arrives at his sick aunt’s home, supposedly to care for her, although he seems more interested in her shuffling off this mortal coil. The aunt (Nicola Lipman) fails to deliver on this promise, so a year passes by before a terrific plot twist turns everything upside down. All of this is delivered with dollops of Panache’s black humour, reminding me in moments of Beckett in its casual existential despair, especially when Kemp keeps hinting out loud that his aunt is taking too long to die. Both actors in this two-hander mine the script for all of its comic potential, with Lipovetsky playing Kemp as a Panych-like stand-in (the playwright played the role in Vancouver and Calgary) with both acid wit and a dose of pathos too. Who is this strange man? Why has he dropped everything to come and live with his long-lost aunt? He tells us that his aunt has been out of his life for decades, and we get no closer to understanding his decision, not that it really matters. As he attempts to care for her, with endless trays of butterscotch pudding, a homemade device to help her commit suicide (which backfires on Kemp, of course!), his playing of old records and searching for photographic evidence that his aunt cares about him, Lipovetsky manages to build some empathy from the audience. This is quite a dramatic feat, as he is not a very likeable character, awkward and alone in the world as he is, but Panych does the unexpected here. And Nicola Lipman does wonders in her almost silent role as Grace the aunt. Her reactions to Kemp throughout are priceless, and the few lines she does have are delivered with full comic force.

Director Glynis Leyshon is in her element with this play, as comedy is her directorial strength, and she keeps us engaged throughout. Leyshon is well-supported by Ken MacDonald’s set design (as Panych’s partner, MacDonald has designed most of his shows) where we enter an off-kilter warehouse-like attic apartment, with paper over the windows, hermetically sealed off from the world. Tobin Stokes’ sound design also adds to the proceedings, offering music that supports rather than competes with the play. Finally Luc Prairie’s lighting works well to define this odd world and its two inhabitants. Runs until December 11th with tickets at www.belfry.bc.ca. Highly recommended.

[Images, top: Anton Lipovetsky as Kemp; bottom, Anton Lipovetsky as Kemp and Nicola Lipman as Grace (photos by Emily Cooper from Belfry website).]