New Releases by Morris Panych

A dark and steamy comedy exploring the harmonies and dysfunctions of six sexually entangled musicians on an ill-fated winter tour.

A dark comedy full of surprises that sparks with a surprisingly high-stakes battle of wills over thought-provoking issues.

Since Morris Panych''s classic black comedy, Vigil, premiered in 1996, it has been produced throughout North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, including a 2009 Off-Broadway production, which opened to rave reviews, a run as Auntie & Me in London and, most recently, shows at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where Panych directed Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis opposite Marco Barricelli in the lead role. This updated edition incorporates changes to scenes and dialogue that have been part of the play''s evolution over the past fifteen years, as well as a new playwright''s note. Vigil is about a man returning--after thirty years--to sit with a female relative on her deathbed. Kemp, the protagonist, is an extremely self-centred and shallow person who uses acid wit and seemingly callous indifference to cover up the profound discomfort he experiences upon finding himself part of a death watch. Kemp''s problem is: she''s not dying fast enough. Through Kemp''s own errors and inattentiveness, the visit that he thinks will take a day or two stretches into a year, and he finds himself caring for his long-forgotten aunt Grace against his will. Gallows humour and Kemp''s diatribes on humanity and mortality fuel this delightfully dark narrative, but it is Grace''s economical contributions to the dialogue (she''s a woman of few words) that give this play its weight and profundity. A play of mistaken identity, twisted circumstance and surprising turns, it is deliciously absurd, incredibly funny and poignantly tender. This is one Vigil worth keeping. Cast of 1 woman and 1 man.

A riveting mystery and moving story of vanished love brought to light by Morris Panych''s trademark humor.

Gordon was always an odd little child, given his penchant for setting the neighbours'' sheds on fire with their pets locked inside and his fascination with the funeral rituals at the church across the way. Home-schooled in the evenings within the bounds of a somewhat limited curriculum of drunken impromptu kitchen renovations and wife beatings in the resultant ruins by his father Gord, a man of troglodyte imagination and boundless determination for self-replication, his namesake son dedicates himself to these subjects with a kind of limitless and inarticulate awe. Something sinister and permanent involving the stairs to the basement seems to have happened to Gordon''s mother at a formative stage of his development, narrowing the scope of his education even further and leaving him at somewhat Oedipal loose ends. As the steel mill shuts down and everyone in town moves away, Gordon''s father urges him to attend an institution of higher learning. Educated by a legal system that provides him with free room and board in an institution dedicated solely to freshman tutorials in applied criminology conducted by its post-graduate students, Gordon''s vocabulary grows by leaps and bounds, as do his natural gifts for sociopathic rhetoric, fatuous rationalization and reductive logic. Upon graduation, Gordon sets out to build an innovative business with his former cellmate Carl. This ambition is not without its bloody-handed transactions and awkward issues about where to file the evidence. Then there''s the question of what to do about the pregnant and vulnerably sullen Deirdre, who spends an unusual amount of time worrying about her nails and calculating the pathetic hourly wages that Gordon and Carl''s sins bring in. By accident or design, this dysfunctional trio on the lam breaks into Gord''s home, wherein they confront "the end of the line" and some very disturbing metaphors.

A mysterious murder tests fifteen year-old Lowell''s skills at shaping the truth. Cast of 3 men and 2 women.

Updated versions of three great comedy classics: The Government Inspector, Hotel Peccadillo and The Amorous Adventures of Anatol.

This dark comedy of "trading places" resonates with uncomfortable truths about everyday life. Cast of 2 women and 3 men.

Award-winning playwright Panych turns Waiting for Godot into a comedy while simultaneously heightening its profound questions. Cast of 3 men.

Chief dishwasher Dressler tyrannizes his co-workers in an upscale restaurant with his rants of Marxist rhetoric. Cast of 3 men.

''A stunning new play published to tie in with the London premiere at Wyndham''''s Theatre When Kemp receives a phone call from an aunt who claims she is old and dying, he travels across the country to pay her a visit; but she''''s not going just yet. As the seasons change and the weather turns from bad to good again, Kemp''''s own dysfunctional youth and thwarted dreams come to light in a delightful and mordant black comedy. ''''Think of an extended Tony Hancock sketch rewritten by Samuel Beckett and you will have something of the flavour of these ninety minutes that so brilliantly use comedy to expose the pain and loneliness of the unloved. It is funny, tender and quite tough'''' Guardian ''''A tart, tough comedy'''' The Times ''''A touching portrait of two lonely souls and the need that binds them together'''' Daily Telegraph ''''A tender, funny little play'''' Daily Mail ''''A wonderfully black, funny, sad piece'''' Scotsman''

Length: 2 acts.

Plays dealing with youthful sexual indentity and AIDS.

Panych''s brilliant tale reminds us all that fear can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cast of 2 women and 3 men.

A man''s contemplation of suicide leads to a charming and surprising ending. Cast of 2 women and 3 men.