Prolific west-coast playwright Morris Panych is returning to Toronto with his newest show, Lawrence and Holloman, a two-hander starring Richard Waugh and Richard Zeppieri. Panych is well-known to audiences across the country for such plays as 7 Stories, The Ends of the Earth and Vigil.

His plays are filled with a quirky, dark sense of humour and usually offer an offbeat look at the desperate and the driven. Lawrence and Holloman, which will play at the Tarragon as part of the du Maurier World Stage Festival, is about a relationship between two men who meet by chance in an elevator. They work in the same department store, but they have diametrically opposed personalities; Lawrence is confident, aggressive, handsome -- a salesman of the month engaged to a wealthy young woman, while Holloman is a recluse.

Things start to go wrong for Lawrence and Holloman finds himself required to sustain and over-see Lawrence's well-being.

The production features a design by Ken MacDonald, who collaborates regularly with Panych; the two recently worked on Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid and Marivaux's The Game of Love and Chance, both at Vancouver's Arts Club.

Originally another Panych play was to come to Toronto in this time slot. But that script, titled The Girl In The Goldfish Bowl, was put on hold for Lawrence and Holloman. Lawrence and Holloman is at the Tarragon from April 21 to May 31. Call 416-531-1827 for tickets.

By Mira Friedlander
Canada Correspondent