Vigil

by Morris Panych

Morris Panych’s brilliant new black comedy is structured around what happens when an extremely self-centred and shallow person finds himself, through his own errors and inattentiveness, in a life-and-death situation with profound and far-reaching consequences. A play of twisted circumstance, mistaken identity and surprising turns, it is deliciously absurd, incredibly funny and poignantly tender.

Genres: Plays

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5, rounded up.

I'm systematically reading or re-reading all of Panych's catalog that I can get my hands on, and this was his first play that I read, over a decade ago - after the privilege of seeing the late, great Olympia Dukakis play Grace in SF's ACT production. The play is very funny in a mordant, sometimes morbid vein, and the late surprise twist is extremely satisfying.

[Caroline]

One of the best plays I have read!

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightfully dark and surprisingly poignant. I'd love to do this show sometime

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great characterization with a wonderful twist. Hope to see it on our stage.

[Courtney Aguilar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange man... so lonely

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saw this play many years ago and recall really enjoying it. Grace's facial expressions are what made this play very funny to see on stage. That's lacking when you read the play but it's still humorous.

[Nancy Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was enjoying it very much but the ending left me very unsatisfied. Perhaps that was the author’s intention. Perhaps translate better to the stage.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent two-hander black comedy about family, identity and death.

[Kira]

Man verbosely waits for Aunt to die. Somehow I didn’t see the twist coming and it tickled me.

[Woman Reading (is away exploring) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I saw this performed as a play with only 2 performers, one of whom stayed nearly completely mute.
This is a hilarious, cathartic story of black gallows humor for long-term care givers. The book wasn't as sharp as the play but it was good enough.