“The Dear Departed” at Amelia Earhart Playhouse ()

If you have ever wondered what your family truly thinks about you, dying will answer all of those questions. 

In the satirical play “The Dear Departed,” directed by Camilla McGill, the patriarch of the family passes away, leaving two sisters and their families with the task of gathering together to settle his affairs.

Abel Merryweather (Elizabeth Berg) is not long deceased before the daughter he is living with, Amelia Slater (Aurora Lewis), begins divvying up his possessions, intent on hiding anything of value from her sister who will be arriving soon. Her husband, Henry Slater (Mariana Savill), is a comically beaten down man who obliges her requests to move furniture and take possession of even the slippers off the dead man’s feet. Their daughter Victoria (Daysee Macaulay) shrewdly observes the actions of her parents and tries to grieve her grandfather in peace.

The setting is that of a humble home, with furniture and décor reminiscent of the 1950s. As the father’s expensive items are claimed and added to the sitting room, they are laughably out of place. We get the sense that the home is tidy and practical, but that there is a hollowness underlying it all. The characters deck themselves out in the required black mourning garb and we can’t help chuckling at their insincerity.

Amelia even decides to claim and move a prized possession quickly at the last minute, even as her sister arrives and is knocking at the door. Victoria is enlisted to keep the door shut, and her anxiety over the situation is evident. Amelia’s true colors are flying like a flag as she acidly reproofs her husband and daughter for their slowness and conjectures that her father would want her to have his belongings. The audience laughs aloud when Victoria claims her mother is “Pinching Grandpa’s possessions!”

Once Amelia’s sister, Elizabeth Jordan (Liliana Dry) and her husband Ben (Veda Macaulay) are let in, the two sisters begin to pick apart each other’s devotion to their father and accuse each other of stealing from him. Elizabeth observes new items in the home and questions Amelia on their origin. As they bicker, we chuckle at the greed and materialism. The husbands are obviously accustomed to it and simply go along with their overbearing wives.

Props help to set the scene and provide a juxtaposition between the formal airs and the true feelings. The tea set exudes a sense of hospitality, however, as the tea is poured and consumed, nothing hospitable passed between the lips of the sisters. Ben’s comical facial movements and expressiveness mustache movements as he quips through the scene brings moments of respite from the haughty sisters.

Cast of “The Dear Departed” at Amelia Earhart Playhouse ()

When a very surprising announcement is made, the sisters try to backpedal and make a case for their actions, but it ends up being too little, too late and the results are highly deserved. All the while, Abel Merryweather holds a twinkle in his eye that cannot be missed. It is fun to watch how he parses out punishment with a smile and that same twinkle.

While watching the performance, it strikes us that in the end we will all be in this situation at some point in our lives. We don’t have control over death, but what we do have control over is how we treat others. We can laugh at the greed because we know that valuing our relationships and not our possessions is a choice. We also note that how we treat our elders is being observed by the younger generation and we should be careful to emulate the relationships we would like to have with our own children.

The youth actors for this one-act play work together earnestly, showing off their mature acting skills and presenting an enjoyable version of this classic satire. “The Dear Departed” is one of two plays presented as “Shhh! A Series of Secrets Told,” Amelia Earhart Theater’s entry into the One Act Play and Youthfest competitions.