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Liar, Liar, Pantalons on Fire, Courtesy of Corneille & Ives at STNJ
by Sherri Rase     |      Bookmark and Share
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photo ©Gerry Goodstein
(foreground, left to right) Brian Cade, as Dorante, kisses the hand of the beautiful Lucrèce, played by Maya Kazan, while Jim Hopkins (center), as Géronte, looks on.
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“The Liar” is the latest production by Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (STNJ) and it sparkles with modern language in its most recent translation by playwright David Ives.  If Ives’ name is familiar, it should be.  His play “Venus in Fur” has been very good to its actors, who’ve won awards for his clever prose, and his translation of Pierre Corneille’s 1644 play is a romp in its own right.  Adding the spice of modern conveniences and conceits to the habitués of Parisian high society during the reign of Louis XIII-ish, Ives gives us a view of antic wit and epic foible that includes a very fast pace. This show may require you purchase two tickets for two different dates … it wasn’t until I arrived home after the performance that I realize “Twitter” had occurred in one of the lines!
The dramatis personae are oh so familiar.  We have the honest and humble Cliton (Kevin Isola) who gives a most interesting variation on the classic raising-of-the-curtain speech—turn off your cell phones, etc.—while setting up the action of the play.  Those of us who saw last season’s “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” at STNJ were already laughing when we saw him–he has an arch way about him and, armed with Ives’ razor-witty words, he makes us think we’re ready for what comes next.  When Dorante (Brian Cade) arrives, however, it is clear that, until that moment, we had no idea what was really to come.  That masterful liars existed in times before ours is something we may have known, but Dorante works in lies as Bosch worked in oils–what brilliant fabrications come from his lips.  New Jersey residents are accustomed to the smell of “pantalons en flambé,” from our Governor to our legislators, yet Dorante is as believable in his assertions as Cliton is gullible.  Cliton knows only how to speak Truth and is about to get a lifetime’s education in the art of refracting situations.
Dorante and his father Géronte (Jim Hopkins) are on a most tender mission.  Géronte is hoping to get his son situated with a young woman of blue blood and status.  Dorante has some other ideas so the irony that they’ve fixed their sights on the same woman is not lost to them.  What’s not lost to us is that Dorante thinks the object of his affections, whose name is Clarice (Jane Pfitsch) is actually named Lucrèce (Maya Kazan), who is in fact her silent friend.  Karma, however, is present in France even though it seems the French have a different word for everything!  The mayhem of a star-crossed “secret” fiancé Alcippe (Clark Carmichael) and twin servants Isabelle and Sabine (Katie Fabel), who are as different from one another as alike as they look, with a well-meaning friend Philiste (James Russell) is just what one needs to stir a scintillating summer stew of young love.
Highlights for me include Brian Cade’s masterfully delivered prevarications.  Even when Dorante is creating on the fly, as with his tale about “marriage” to his father as to why he cannot marry Clarice (who, remember, is actually Lucrèce), his wheels keep turning at lightning speed.  It is delicious though, as Cliton acts as Greek Chorus-cum-Inner Monologue, as he voices what many of us are thinking at certain times during the show–spooky! Isola is wry, dry and clearly dangerous to know.
Pfitsch and Kazan have delightful chemistry as best friends/girls next door and spur one another on to greater excess even as they plot against Dorante.  The rogue has an undeniable appeal for both, especially since Clarice is wearied by the weight of the wait for the altar the blazingly jealous Alcippe makes her endure.
One of the highlights for me in Paul Mullins’ gifted direction is the “duel” between Dorante and Alcippe, when one of Dorante’s lies has led to a whale of a misunderstanding between the two men, who have been as long term friends as Clarice and Lucrèce themselves.  This is something you really need to see to believe–manigances abound, as do limerance, fabrication and, ultimately, romantic love. Carmichael and Cade take swordplay to an entirely different level. David Ives calls his work on Corneille’s play a “Translaptation,” and you’ll soon see why.
Clever prose, witty situations, anachronistic references and barking laughter will be your lot, so go see “The Liar,” you’ll like it a lot.  Pentameter, Iambic, is the order of the day and rhyming reminding will soon hold sway.  The show’s run ends July 29, so call the Box Office at 973/408-5600 or get your tickets at www.ShakespeareNJ.org–What better play for an Election Year than “The Liar?”






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