In Morris Panych's 1995 dark comedy “Vigil,” award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis utters a mere 12 lines during her nearly two-hour onstage performance as an elderly hermit visited by an obnoxious deadbeat.

Dukakis is best known for her Oscar winning role as supporting actress in “Moonstruck.”

In her new role, Dukakis says she plays “a woman who has rejected and moved away from life. She lives in the top floor of her little house with the relics of her history hanging from the walls.” The woman has physically and mentally separated herself.

Then a man walks through the door, terrifying her. He ends up being her nephew, responding to a letter she sent asking him to visit her. The audience learns that he has an agenda. “These two unlikely people, in the course of the evening, accept each other, acknowledge each other and permit the other to affect them.”

Olympia Dukakis joins AirTalk to discuss acting, audiences and the challenge of not speaking for an entire play.

Guest:

Olympia Dukakis, Academy Award winning actress

"Vigil" runs through December 18, 2011 at the Mark Taper Forum. For ticket information, click here.