Vigils

photo: Stan Barouh

DC's Wooly Mammoth Theatre has just ended a run of Vigils, a fun, high-concept comedy by Noah Haidle in which a widow traps her husband's soul in a box in her bedroom. Two years since his death and she's (literally) still not ready to let him go, but he's had enough and wants out: he's increasingly tired of having to act out her changing memories of some of the key moments of their relationship over and over again, sometimes with the new boyfriend hanging around. The sometimes silly (and often very smart) absurd comedy hits a lull or two, but this production so expertly balances the play's absurdism and its compassion that a couple of dead stops on the reollercoaster ride hardly matter, especially by the time we reach the bittersweet end. I had a great time and I'd love to see another good, judiciously directed and acted production of this play.