Showmag.com

Kathleen Turner was a box office bombshell in films such as "Body Heat" and "Romancing the Stone." In the last many years, however, Turner has focused her formidable acting skills upon the stage. And we theatergoers are better off for it.

In her segue from screen siren to stage maven, Turner has, in front of Broadway audiences, characterized such demanding roles as Mrs. Robinson, in the stage adaptation of "The Graduate" (in which she had a nude scene), and Martha, in the theatrical marathon that is "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf." For the latter performance Turner was nominated for a Tony Award.

Small, old, pink and green trailers, tackily festooned with Christmas lights and television antennae, dwell permanently underneath a collection of signs that proclaim such attractions as “Florida Souvenir Land,” “Happy Hooker Bait & Tackle,” and “Blue Ball Day, Sat. Sept. 5.” Web folding chairs by pool steps await bathers at Armadillo Acres. It is 2003 in this trailer park in Starke, Northern Florida.

Vigil, Morris Panych’s 1995 play now onstage at Los Angles’ Mark Taper Forum, through December 18, is a cruel comedy laden with unnerving action and disquieting dialog. Schematically directed by Panych, the show opens with arrival of Kemp at the home of the bedridden Grace, his terminally ailing aunt.

It’s been three decades since Kemp has seen his Aunt Grace, but suddenly Kemp has left his banking job and has taken it upon himself to provide a sort of hospice care for Grace. Though Grace has requested it, Kemp’s motivation as a would-be caretaker is based solely on his desire to be the heir to Grace’s will.