The Liar: Spinning Stories on Broadway!

Fun Facts: Classic Stage Company celebrates its 49th year!

Target Audience: A great choice for a fun and playful night out with your partner, or partners in crime!

Best Bit: Murell Horton’s costume design is fantastic! A pure extension of each character showcasing their true spirit.

Morning After Effect: An interesting thing has come over me, as I navigate my day in prose I be!

Verdict: A mischievous and funny tale that will have you giggling long after it ends!

Classic Stage Company (CSC) and David Ives present The Liar, their sixth production in the ongoing collaboration since 2007. Ives’ first landed at CSC with his translation of Yasmina Reza’s work, A Spanish Play, a production which explored the self-reflection of the acting craft. A decade later Ives’ presents his translation of Pierre Corneille’s 17th century farce Le Menteur that explores the actualization of a pathological liar. Although, Ives’ uses the term “translaptation” claiming that The Liar is a result of his translation with a heavy dose of adaptation. Ironically, Corneille himself had stolen the plot in 1644 from a Spanish playwright and added to it but Ives’ felt it wasn’t strong enough and that he had to raise the stakes.

In this farce our leading man, Dorante cannot help himself spinning from one story into the next while his manservant Cliton has quite the opposite problem with his inability to lie. They wind up in a sequence of trouble, with the audience always one beat ahead resulting in a raucous laughter as these characters walk into each setup. Ives’ rapid-fire script is hysterical and the performers do an excellent job at keeping up with its demanding pace and prose.

Carson Elrod plays the loveable role of Cliton, the shabby manservant trying to stay up to the minute with his master’s tales and tribulations while hoping he will win the heart of Isabelle, who unbeknownst to him has a bitchy and violent twin sister Sabine, resulting in great confusion! Elrod immediately melts the hearts of the audience with his opening line and kept us in the palm of his hand until his last. He has a nonchalant disposition and appears entirely comfortable and effortless on stage. True to his character there is nothing dishonest about his delivery and I lit up every time he uttered a word. He is funny, charming, and the calm within this circus of chaos! Elrod has worked with Ives on several productions and his Off-Broadway appearance in The Heir Apparent earned him a Lortel nomination for leading actor in a play. He was recently on Broadway as Prentiss from Peter and the Starcatcher, and boasts an impressive resume in both stage and screen! Watch this space!

Judging by the strength of every actor, a nod to director Michael Kahn is due. Despite the incredible speed of this play, the actors move in unison with precision and flow. There is an undeniable focus and trust between this cast and their diligence is evident. Kahn commissioned, originally produced and directed The Liar at Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he has held the post as Artistic Director since 1981!

The leading ladies are equally talented and comical - Ismenia Mendes (Clarice), Amelia Pedlow (Lucrece) and Kelly Hutchinson (Isabelle/Sabine) work together as a powerful sisterhood, their unwavering union is arranged with such certainty which makes their ultimate collapse hilarious! Ives’ females may be on the classic hunt for a man but the frustrations around their mistaken identities motivates them to fight for their own voice, and to be seen. Hutchinson does an outstanding job switching between Isabelle and Sabine, each character is fully convincing and if truth be told I was expecting two actresses to bow during curtain.

It is not often that casting directors get credit for their work behind the scenes but I feel Calleri Casting deserve a mention as these farcical characters can be hard to find; however, when you watch The Liar it is as if they were plucked from the street and dropped onto the stage! The Liar runs through February 26th and you do not want to miss these exhilarating performances in David Ives’ latest masterwork. Besides that, don’t you want to know what happens to the liar?

Reviewed by Nicola Quinn

24th January 2017
Classic Stage Theatre, New York City
Find me on Twitter: @newyorktheatre

View our show pages for more information about The Liar, Classic Stage Theater.