There’s nothing like a funeral to bring out the worst of a family. As friends and family of the deceased gather to mourn, emotions that have already been scraped raw are further bloodied as proverbial skeletons peek out from closets and hatchets are unburied.
Now playing at Cesear’s Forum, Yasmina Reza’s “Conversations After a Burial” explores the fraught, emotional interactions of a dysfunctional family just after they’ve laid their patriarch to rest. While the emotions of loss and grief are keenly felt, the ties that are meant to bind these characters together are too loosely knotted.
Reza’s 1987 debut play, “Conversations après un enterrement,” was translated into the English “Conversations After a Burial” by Christopher Hampton and was first performed in 2000 in London. The 1987 work won the Molière Award, the French equivalent of a Tony, for Best Author; however, the English translation received a rather lukewarm response, with critics believing that the translated version lacked the poeticism and French nuances relayed in the original. The English version of the show also premiered after audiences had been introduced to “Art,” Reza’s breakout international hit, and thus viewed “Conversations” in the shadow of what many considered to be a superior masterpiece.
Not deterred by the show’s lackluster critical response is director Greg Cesear of Cesear’s Forum, who is staging the show in the intimate Kennedy’s Cabaret in Playhouse Square.
The show begins with the burial of Simon Weinberg on his family’s estate in the Loiret region of France. His three children, Nathan, Edith and Alex, are joined by their uncle Pierre and his latest wife, Julienne, as they lay their father to rest. Arriving late to the funeral, much to the disgruntlement of almost everyone involved, is Elisa, who used to be Alex’s mistress. As the family disperses, Elisa admits to Nathan that she is madly in love with him and has been for many years. Nathan doesn’t respond favorably, which sends Elisa running–until an out-of-commission car and a storm prolong the group’s interactions, forcing them to confront their strained relationships.
There are gems of moments within the show that stand out, many of which revolve around the explorations of the complex, tangled emotions that surround grief. As the siblings unpack their guilt, contempt, jealousy, longing, regret and resentment next to the freshly packed dirt of their father’s grave, it’s easy to empathize with the jumble of emotions that constitutes their sorrows.
And the individual performances are impassioned; there is an ache of fresh grief that is palpable. Less convincing, unfortunately, are some intrapersonal relationships meant to exist between the characters.
Most notable is the quasi-love-triangle between Nathan, Alex and Elisa that is meant to serve as a major source of conflict. Nathan (a self-assured Douglas Sutherland) is meant to be 48 years old, while his brother, Alex (a petulant and frustrated Abraham McNeil Adams), is 43. The third side of this love triangle, Elisa (an agreeable Abbey Marshall), is intended to be 35. While Sutherland and McNeil Adams appear older than the characters they are portraying, Marshall appears younger. This takes the supposed age gap of 8-13 years and stretches it so that it more closely resembles that of a father and daughter.
The apparent age difference is not at all aided by the lack of romantic tension between the three players. There’s a resentment that simmers between Elisa and Alex, but it doesn’t speak of ex-lovers so much as disgruntled ex-roommates. As for Elisa and Nathan, there’s geniality and warmth, but not romantic or sexual heat.
The one-minute-bickering, one-minute-comforting relationship between the siblings is more believable, especially between Sutherland and McNeil Adams, the latter of whom is plagued by jealousy and resentment for his wunderkind older brother. Like her brothers, Edith (a weepy-eyed, emotional Kristie J. Long) struggles with romantic relationships, the most notable of which was stifled by her late father.
Adding a bit of flavor to the siblings’ interactions are uncle Pierre (a jovial Roland Moore) and wife Julianne (a delightful Valerie Young), who portray perhaps the healthiest, most loving relationship out of the whole bunch.
According to the script, the setting should use “nothing realistic” and “a single open space” to represent the French estate. Daniel Telford’s set certainly heeds those requirements in terms of simplicity. At the front of the stage is a small gate with chicken wire that represents the father’s gravesite. Lengths of colored fabric are occasionally draped along the sides of the playing space alongside black umbrellas. A bizarre assortment of furniture pieces, from elegantly detailed chairs and benches to a tree stump to stage boxes, are speckled throughout the space. While the furniture and stump meet the script’s requirement for simple suggestions of a combined space, the stage boxes lean far more on the conceptual side.
Sarah Russell dresses the players in semi-formal clothes that vary in modernity for each character, but they don’t necessarily help audiences distinguish a concrete time period for the action. Lisa Wiley’s sound design utilizes a few physical tricks to emulate thunder and rain, but the players are otherwise mostly unaccompanied by auditory ambiance, even between some otherwise silent scene transitions.
While “Conversations After a Burial” may not have the critical acclaim of Reza’s other works, the show fits Cesear’s Forum’s goal to produce works that are unconventional, new or lesser known. Individually, the performances have the potential to move you, but the ties that bind could use some tightening if they want to have the intended effect.
“Conversations After a Burial” runs through October 24, 2026, at Cesear’s Forum in Playhouse Square’s Kennedy’s Cabaret, 1501 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44115. Visit playhousesquare.org or call (216) 241-6000 for tickets, $33.
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