Liar Sparkling Dialogue and Dazzling Reaction Paper

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The jokes range form the raunchy to the almost unbearably corny, but the actors all acquit themselves in a remarkably deadpan and unaware attitude when required, which is often, waiting out the audience's laughter with extreme -- and extremely repetitive -- aplomb. Christian Conn is more than suitably nimble with his tongue and his movements as he dances ever on the precipice of being trapped in his incessant and incorrigible untruths, and Erin Partain and Miriam Silverman as the pair of friends and deceiving would-be lovers to Conn's Dorante meld an ingenue-ish innocence with a modicum of wicked devilry, taking Ives words and making them both delicious to mouth and to hear. None of the actors fails to play their part perfectly to the hilt, hitting all of the extremes that the period and the modern script demand, demonstrating the extent of the wonderful theatrical talents that this city has to offer for residents and international visitors alike.

Of course, all of the credit cannot be bestowed simply on the authors and the actors; this production easily could have been pushed into the realm of the plastic and repetitive, or ruined by too much attempt at theatrical innovation and directorial re-imagining. Instead, Michael Kahn tightly reigns in this production where necessary while letting it explode in all of the right areas, allowing the full torrent of a French Restoration farce to wash over the audience without flooding them out of the theatre or beating them over the heads with symbolic elements that try to add a "modern significance" to this light-hearted, boisterous, and ultimately frivolous piece of comedic theatre.

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Kuhn's direction extends beyond his control of the pacing of the play and the measured yet full-out performances of the actors. The costume and set design of this production also match both the language of the script and the style of the production. Both are lavish and rich without being overdone or taking focus away form the dialogue and the characters, which are the true joys of the play. Still, it would not be a Restoration comedy, or in this case a restored restoration comedy, without the rich fabrics, dashing hats and scarves, wigs and handkerchiefs galore, and several different sets not as fully realized as they might have been in Corneille's own day, but with all of the finish and suggestion of lavish detail that could be desired. The visual delight that the play offers is entirely supportive of the verbal derring-do that more completely engrosses the audience, and as the play drives swiftly forward the swirl of colors and changing scenes adds a wonderful element of physical movement to the already lively dancing of the comedy's dialogue.

All in all, this is a piece of theatre not to be missed by anyone in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, provided they can get a ticket -- and they're going as fast as these actors can talk. As economic worries, wars, and fevered political battles continue, a brief interlude of totally pointless hilarity is a welcome break, and this is exactly what the Shakespeare Theatre Company provides at the Lansburgh Theatre with David Ives' modern translation and adaptation of Pierre Cornielle's 17th-centruy French comedy the Liar......

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