VIGIL

I was too interested in the play Vigil, on opening night at the Taper, to take notes as it was unfolding, so I’m sure I’ve forgotten most of my bon mots. But, despite the topic being the impending death of an elderly loved one (maybe–to everything,) I thought it was great.

Photo by Craig Schwartz.

I don’t want to tell you the details because you need to just witness the play for yourself. But I can tell you that the two actors, Olympia Dukakis and more notably Marco Barracelli, who does most of the heavy lifting, were fabulous.

It’s billed as a dark comedy, which I usually hate. But other than the plot, it’s not really dark; it’s just plain funny. It’s not a laugh riot, because of the basic premise, but it brings a smile to one’s face for the most part, with several actual guffaws.

Anyone with relatives should enjoy it (unless they have an elderly one who’s about to die, that is. Then it might just be painful.) But, to me, it really highlights the concept of family and belonging, which are always relevant.

I’d advise audiences to just go along with the ride and not try to get ahead of the action, as Mr. X and I are often guilty of doing. Several pieces of the action were quite predictable to me, but I still laughed at the execution. However, most of the script twists I didn’t see coming, which was half of the fun. I think that all audiences love to be surprised.

My other piece of advice is to listen to every word here. Vigil can get wordy, but don’t space-out because just about every word counts. There are few wasted ones. (And the play is actually kind-of short, so you can get back to worrying about your own lives in about two and a quarter hours.)

One note about Mr. Barracelli: He’s such a confident actor, and had a familiar type of voice, (he sounds a lot like Penn Gillette, only not annoying,) that I assumed that I had seen him on film many times and just not noticed his name. But I researched him, and was shocked to find out that he doesn’t have many TV or movie credits. He has mainly theatre and teaching ones, which is admirable. But, in my opinion, he would fit into just about any genre of series or film. The best part is that the during the whole play, I couldn’t figure out anything him personally, (like gay or straight, for example,) which was just perfect for the character. As an actor, it’s hard to make yourself a blank piece of paper on which to create your character and he did it beautifully.

The Ken MacDonald-designed set was pretty interesting, as well, although there were parts I didn’t quite understand. No matter, though. I just happy to have spent an enjoyable evening at the theatre because most shows nowadays don’t always cut it for me. Thanks, Taper!

Vigil running through December 18, 2011
Mark Taper Forum 135 N. Grand Ave. 213-628-2772 www.CenterTheatreGroup.org