Shonita Joshi and Maggie Lou Rader Photo by Ryan Kurtz

Shonita Joshi plays the self-absorbed Sienna, a tightly wound thirtysomething woman and committed city girl who is exasperated once this crazy expectation of multiple eulogies is described. She dives into this demanding role with aplomb, evolving from annoyance at an impossible task to a successful performer of multiple remembrances of people she never knew. In truth, Sienna learns that her mother was a Fitchwood, but fled life in small-town America while pregnant with Sienna. Sienna soldiers through each set of remarks, counted by projected numerals overhead, with creativity and comic timing. (In fact Joshi, who has previously performed in shows at ETC, originated the role of Sienna in its world premiere at Michigan's Purple Rose Theatre in early 2025.)

The voicemail that drew Sienna to Blissfield was left by Millie (Maggie Lou Rader), the effusive daughter of the funeral director at Martin Mortuary. About the same age as Sienna, she is the irrepressible receptionist and enthusiastic marketing director whose brash musical talents are well beyond what such a sober establishment needs. It's clear to the audience that she's a creative fish out of water, conceiving astonishingly inappropriate rock 'n' roll jingles for the family business. She has learned all the solicitous moves expected of a staffer in a funeral home–offering tissues and hugs that Sienna fends off but eventually welcomes–but it is increasingly obvious that this is not her life's calling.

These two women are the only characters in Fourteen Funerals, and initially they come across as polar opposites. Sienna is worldly and cynical, while Millie is happy and satisfied with life in a small, conservative town. But, as the tributes to each Fitchwood family member unfold, the young women bridge a significant cultural divide between city and country life, discovering some warm common ground. Each of the deceased had something worth remembering–from making art from balls of mud to being a competitive "moo-er," with an invitation to the audience to make their own cow sounds.

The story of this relationship is played out on another picture-perfect set by Brian c. Mehring. A semicircular reception area has subdued floral wallpaper, recessed grottos with white lilies, stately white columns beneath neatly symmetrical, muted blue drapery (where the eulogies are tallied and projected). A pair of beige Windsor chairs sit at the center of a carpeted area adjacent to Millie's tasteful mahogany desk. Following the humorous research for each set of remarks, the lighting dims (Mehring is also the lighting designer), and a spotlighted pool of light isolates Sienna for her brief presentation, delivered with excellent comic timing and occasional interruptions by recorded voices from speakers in the "congregation" that the audience has become.

Director Torie Wiggins has ably choreographed the movements of Sienna and Millie. They pace, circle, and fret, debating and creating this series of offbeat memorials. Sienna's purse is constantly, unthinkingly dropped on the floor, only to have Millie repeatedly put it back on one of the chairs to restore order. As Sienna warms to Millie's encouragement, she asks for a taste of the marketing tunes the spunky receptionist has envisioned, delivered with rock-concert brashness. It only takes a few moments for Sienna to join in for a wildly supportive partnering performance. Wiggins's production has numerous lighthearted moments like this one that keep the story spinning along. (The production is approximately two hours, including a 15-minute intermission.)

It becomes obvious that both Sienna and Millie have something missing from their lives and that they have qualities that complement each another. Although Millie's misdirection about a possible legacy was bait, not reality, that nearly derails their budding relationship, they have discovered something more valuable. Fourteen Funerals is more comedy than drama, but it has a big heart and a positive message about how friendships are established and sustained. Thanks to Joshi's and Rader's spot-on human performances, we see how connections can arise from the most unexpected beginnings and lead to a promising future.

Fourteen Funerals runs through April 12, 2026, at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, 1127 Vine Street, Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, Cincinnati OH. For tickets and information, please visit www.ensemblecincinnati.com or call 513-421-3555.