REVIEW: 'The Liar'

Drew Cortese in the Denver Center Theatre Company production of The Liar. Photo by Terry Shapiro. 

Among theatre history aficionados, an opportunity to see a production of a Pierre Corneille play is a rare treat. I've been involved in theatre for nearly 40 years, and never before have I had the opportunity to even read, much less see an English version of Corneille's classic 1643 French comedy "The Liar."

While Corneille doesn't quite rate as highly as Moliere in terms of modern translations, David Ives' "transladaptation," of "The Liar," playing through October 16 at the Denver Center Theatre Company's Space Theatre, is bright, light, loaded with laughs and amazingly accessible to contemporary audiences.

A compulsive liar concocts elaborate fibs, not for personal gain, to hurt others, or for self-protection, but because of an otherwise commendable and irresistible artistic desire to embellish real life with his gift for descriptive language and an impressively rich and colorful imagination. His colossal fantasies create all kinds of complications for the people around him, but no real harm is done.

Dorante (Drew Cortese) arrives in town and falls in love at first sight with Clarice (Amelia Pedlow), who is secretly engaged to Dorante's friend, and whose lonely companion Lucrece (Jeanine Serrales) thinks SHE'S the object of his affection. Dorante's dad wants to marry him off to one or the other, and Dorante is well served by an honest yet gullible manservant (Matt Zambrano), who advises the audience to "turn off their brains with their cell phones" and simply enjoy the play.

And that's very easy to do. The show is completely unconcerned with the moral consequences of breaking one of the ten commandments. It's not so much about telling the truth, as fabricating outlandish fantasies that we never really believe anyway, but enjoy simply because they are so preposterous.

The plot is extremely light and simple, involving mistaken identity, mis-delivered love letters, identical twin servants and the like, but the show exists primarily to provide a showcase for a series of spectacular monologues and set piece "bits," including a show-stopping "air duel," and instruction on how to lie. The costumes are gorgeous, the acting is terrific, but the real stars of the show are David Ives' brilliant script, and Kent Thompson's direction, which is nothing short of genius.

Ives has done far more than translate the original into rhymed pentameter, which would be a huge accomplishment in its own right. The script is witty, clever, knowing and filled with surprises, in-jokes and delights. Thompson's direction is extraordinary, not just in the performances he elicits from the talented cast, but in the shaping, blocking and business, and timing of the performances. "The Liar" is not just a masterpiece, DCTC's production is a masterwork.

"The Liar" was definitely worth the 40 year wait. This is one "classical" comedy I could see again and again.

'The Liar' plays at the Denver Center Theatre Company's Space Theatre through October 16. Performances are 6:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, with matinees 1:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Tickets start at $35. For information and tickets call 303-893-4100 or visit online at www.denvercenter.org.