In A Nice Family Gathering, a deceased father and husband gets the chance to rectify the mistake of a lifetime: he never told his wife he loved her. 

He wanted to tell her, but he was busy, he reasons. So begins this hilarious comedy of manners, written by Phil Olson and directed by Cheryl Singer for Prince Edward Community Theatre. 

It’s Thanksgiving, ten months after Carl Lundeen Sr. (Bill McMahon) passed away. His family has gathered for their first holiday without him, or so they think. 

Carl has returned to connect with his wife, but the only one who can see him is his youngest son, Carl Jr. (Tomas Crossley), who isn’t exactly thrilled to be his dad’s mediator. Carl Sr. was as withholding with his children as he was in his marriage. 

“You shortchanged me when you were alive, and now that you’re dead I can’t get rid of you,” Carl Jr. complains.

As the Lundeens settle into the autumn-hued living room, amid the niceties and resentments of any middle class American family, their father’s unresolved feelings push them to face their own. 

Eldest son Michael (Thomas Harrison) and his wife Jill (Liz Simpson) compensate for their infertility struggles with luxury cars and large glasses of merlot. Their mother (Paulina McMahon) is experiencing grief-induced memory loss. Daughter Stacy (Alison Shorey) seems as invisible to her family in life as her father is in death.

For his part, Carl Jr., is the family black sheep. He pursued his passion for writing and supports himself as a truck driver, instead of becoming a doctor like both his Dad and his brother.

Carl Jr. isn’t used to being the one people rely on, and his ambivalence in carrying out his father’s wishes is underlined when Mom invites her husband’s old golfing buddy, Jerry (Tom Higginbottom) to dinner. That turns Carl Jr. into a hapless Hamlet, unsure whether or not he will avenge his father’s ghost and throw Jerry out. 

Though the play is far from being a tragedy, heartfelt moments sneak in between flights of comedy. Under Ms. Singer’s direction, this stellar cast, a mix of seasoned actors and newcomers, delivers comic dialogue with perfect timing, seamlessly pivoting between jokes.

For Ms. Singer, behind the humour, the play counsels us to seize the day while we have it. It’s a lesson, not just for Carl Sr., but for every character here — both onstage and off.  

A Nice Family Gathering opened at Mount Tabor Playhouse last weekend. Remaining performances are March 25, and 27-29.