Liars at a Funeral is a fast, funny farewell to ATP’s 50th season

It’s a rare kind of comedy that makes you laugh at death, think about your own family, and still manages to throw Chinese food on a coffin.

Alberta Theatre Projects is closing out its 50th season with belly laughs and raised eyebrows at Liars at a Funeral, a lightning-fast farce by Canadian playwright Sophia Fabiilli.

You’re forgiven if curtain call feels a little confusing.

The numbers just don’t seem to add up.
The cast? Just five actors.
The characters? Nine.

And if you were raised on movies like The Parent Trap, your brain might just accept that one actor can meet themselves onstage. The plot revolves around several sets of twins — and characters who mirror or foil each other in unexpected ways.

Helen Knight plays both Evelyn and Leorah — one straight-laced, one a little wild. The transition between the two? Just 25 seconds.

“It’s fast,” she says. “I toss my jacket in a bin, Jerry unzips my collar, I duck behind the curtain, throw clothes at him while he hangs them up, pull on a black evening dress, swap my shoes, re-fluff my hair — and I’m back out.”

But it’s not just the wardrobe.

It’s a physical feat — one that requires a backstage pit crew, multiple quick-change zones, and a deep sense of where each character “lives” in her body.

“I’m flamboyant in one role, totally buttoned-up in the next,” she says. “What I wear, how I carry myself — it all shifts. Even my hair changes.”

Onstage, the story follows Grandma Mavis, who fakes her own funeral to reunite her dysfunctional family. It’s absurd in all the right ways — but also surprisingly emotional.

“Every family is a circus,” Knight says. “This play lets you laugh at that, but also makes you feel it.”

Her character Leorah is about as close to an antagonist as the show has — bold, unapologetic, and fiercely passionate about her job at a funeral home.

“She’s irreverent,” Knight says. “She throws Chinese food on a coffin. But she also forces us to confront how we dance with death; how we make the sacred out of the profane.”

That blend — big physical comedy with bursts of truth — is what Knight says makes this show both refreshing and cathartic.

“We all need to laugh,” she says. “Especially now. And honestly, I love shows that let you feel something in between the chaos.”

Knight is no stranger to ATP’s stage — and she’s glad to be back.

“The Martha Cohen is just gorgeous, and it somehow feels intimate even with 400 people in the seats,” she says. “You don’t have to push to reach the audience. You can bring them in close.”

She also credits the company for consistently producing bold, character-driven work.

“ATP is always stretching to do something interesting,” Knight says. “You feel like you get to be creative here.”

Liars at a Funeral runs through May 11 at the Martha Cohen Theatre.

Tickets and info at albertatheatreprojects.com