ATP closes 50th anniversary season with a funny dysfunctional family full of liars at a funeral

Tyrell Crews, Grace Fedorchuk and Maureen Thomas in Liars at a Funeral. (Photo: Benjamin Laird)

Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP) is closing out its 50th anniversary season with a few laughs.

The Canadian institution’s final production of the 2024-25 season, Liars at a Funeral, is a darkly funny look at a dysfunctional family who gather for the funeral of their grandmother, who is actually still alive but wants to create an excuse to bring her family together.

Written by Sophia Fabilli, Liars at a Funeral features a cast of five Calgarians playing nine different family members from three generations, which means actors making lightning-fast costume changes backstage throughout the show.

"It has heart, it has humour, it has everything you want in a comedy – and it’s Canadian too," said ATP artistic director Haysam Kadri.

“It’s a fantastic, fantastic show and judging by the audience’s reaction, and the amount of tickets that have been sold, it’s really resonating,” added Kadri.

Playwright Fabilli was interviewed by Haley Sarfeld in early 2024 for the Kingston Theatre Alliance, where she was asked about creating characters who tend to blurt out inappropriate comments at the worst possible moments in their lives.

“Maybe it’s just really fun to write about messy people,” she said. “People who don’t have it all together, who are complicated and falling apart.”

Season of Legends

This week, Alberta Theatre Projects also announced its 2025-26 season, which Kadri disclosed to CTV Morning Live’s Adriana Zhang.

Next year’s lineup includes a new adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Kadri said, “brought to us through the twisted imaginations and brilliance of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop.”

The holiday show, he said, will be The Wizard of Oz adapted by Calgary composer Joe Slabe, whose Forte Musical Guild just completed a successful 20th anniversary production of Austentatious.

“What I love most about the holiday show is the multi-generational audiences that we bring in,” Kadri said. “Truly if you want to bring your family, that’s the perfect show to bring them to.”

In 2026, the theatre will present playwright Nick Green’s Casey and Diana.

“This is a brilliant play, one that touched me deeply when I first read it – it’s basically a tribute to Princess Diana and her visit to the Casey House Hospice in Toronto.

“(It’s a) beautiful play,” Kadri said. “It’s sweeping the country and we’re getting the premiere here in Alberta in association with our friends at the Citadel (Theatre in Edmonton).”

The 2025-26 season concludes with Wildwoman, playwright Kat Sandler’s irreverent comedy about Catherine de Medici, who was brought to France to marry King Henry II and produce an heir only to discover lunacy.

It’s based on a true story that was the basis for Beauty and the Beast.

“This is a hilarious comedy,” Kadri said. “Kat Sandler is witty, she is wildly imaginative with the story and it’s a perfect way to finish off the (2025-26) season.”

Liars at a Funeral is at the Martha Cohen Theatre in Arts Commons through May 11.

For tickets and info, go here.

With files from CTV’s Adriana Zhang