Benevolence

by Morris Panych

Fastidious and fussy shoe salesman by day and secretive aspiring film screenwriter by night, Oswald Eichersen’s dreams of success are as grandly inflated as his self-esteem is hopelessly deficient. Just outside Eichersen’s place of work, street person Terence Lomy has sat encamped for two years—an 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 it’s 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 Lomy—a beguiling trickster who dares to claim it is actually he who has something of value to offer Eichersen—has 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 didn’t 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 don’t see) the people we live with every day.

Benevolence premiered at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto on September 24, 2007.

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2008

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alas, the final read for me of all 15 of Panych's original plays - but at least we end on a high note. This may indeed be my favorite of his works - a very dark comedy, indeed - one I'd love to see performed.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smart, well-written, absurdist allegory. While it makes it's point and has a strong message, I have trouble with people acting wildly out-of-character to make a point, which, I understand what makes it absurdist, but it still detracted slightly from my enjoyment. I think a production would be powerful.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

An act of charity for the wrong reasons sends a businessman's live spiraling out of control in this intriguing black comedy. Although it lacks the sublime stage poetry of Panych's recent "Sextette" (which needs to be published yesterday), this play says a lot about the world of selfishness and is filled with quirky humor.