Dearly Departed is a play about Happy Families in the American Deep South, and begins with the demise of one Bud, officially from a stroke but more probably from the terror induced by a letter from his born-again Christian sister declaring her intention of descending on them to spend an afternoon praying and leading them back to the Lord. "One day with the Lord is as a thousand years" she reminds Bud, who immediately opts for the thousand years rather than a visit from his Bible-bashing sister. 

This simple plot device sets the scene for a gathering of the clan, where all the clichés of character types below the Mason-Dixon line are exploited, sometimes to hilarious effect. 

We have the inarticulate gum-chewing teenager, the ne'er-do-well son of the religious fanatic, the faithless husband and failed businessman with his shrewish wife, the toothy preacher - in short, it's just like Tennessee Williams sending himself up. 

The play is an endearing little piece of nonsense which takes the Southern myths and exposes them to the cold light of reality. The consolation of religion, community spirit, loving families, speaking well of the dead, the Christian charity - they all get a beating, and although the play doesn't say anything new about the serpents that lurk in every Eden, it says it wittily and well.