Synopses & Reviews
Fastidious and fussy shoe salesman by day and secretive aspiring film screenwriter by night, Oswald Eichersens dreams of success are as grandly inflated as his self-esteem is hopelessly deficient. Just outside Eichersens place of work, street person Terence Lomy has sat encamped for two yearsan indelible fixture on the sidewalk with a cardboard sign round his neck with the word hungry” scribbled on it in a hapless hand. One day, on an irrational impulse, having ignored the beggar for years, Eichersen gives Lomy a hundred dollar bill, setting into motion a series of ironic and completely unanticipated events that will change both of their lives forever.
But its not only Eichersen and Lomy that are changed by this irrational act of generous empathy. Through a hilarious series of bizarre encounters in the porn theatre that Lomya beguiling trickster who dares to claim it is actually he who has something of value to offer Eichersenhas chosen for a series of rendezvous” with his benefactor, Eichersen finds himself in an unwanted relationship with a reformed hooker, as sexless a companion as his former longtime girlfriend with an irritating fetish for small dogs. As he helplessly witnesses his entire life disintegrate, only to be co-opted and appropriated by everyone around him, Eichersen ends up abandoned and penniless, on the lam for a murder he didnt commit, absurdly preparing a lecture on Benevolence for the sole patron of the dark and dingy theatre of his nightmares.
Full of excruciatingly comic twists and turns of both fate and manipulative, perhaps even malicious intent, this dark comedy of trading places” resonates with a cascade of uncomfortable truths about how we see (or dont see) the people we live with every day.
Benevolence premiered at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto on September 24, 2007.
Review
No one can make total strangers engage quite like Morris Panych can. He does so by allowing the characters to open up to their enigmatic past in clear, natural, flowing streams of consciousness. His character drawing has never been stronger, his dialogue stringing never more kooky and laconic.”
Torontostage.com
a leathal mixture of black humour and social observation. When it comes to sparkling, erudite, bitchy dialogue, Panych, as a playwright, has few equals.”
Toronto Star
Synopsis
Fastidious and fussy shoe salesman by day and secretive aspiring film scriptwriter by night, Oswald Eichersens dreams of success are as grandly inflated as his self esteem is hopelessly deficient. Just outside Eichersens place of work, street person Terence Lomy has sat encamped for two years. One day, on an irrational impulse, having ignored the beggar for years, Eicherson gives Lomy a hundreddollar bill, setting into motion a series of ironic and completely outrageous events that will change both of their lives forever.
Full of excruciatingly funny twists and turns of both fate and manipulative, perhaps even malicious, intent, this dark comedy of trading places” resonates with a cascade of uncomfortable truths about how we see (or dont see) the people we live with every day.
Synopsis
This dark comedy of trading places” resonates with uncomfortable truths about everyday life. Cast of 2 women and 3 men.
About the Author
Morris PanychPlaywright, actor and director Morris Panych has been described as a man for all seasons in Canadian theatre.” He has appeared in over 50 theatre productions and in numerous television and film roles. He has directed over 30 theatre productions and written over a dozen plays that have been translated and produced throughout the world. He has twice won the Governor Generals Award and has won the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award 14 times for acting and directing. He has also been nominated six times for Torontos Dora Mavor Moore Award and three times for the Chalmers Award. His classic 7 Stories ranks ninth among the ten best selling plays in Canada, outselling the Coles version of Romeo and Juliet.