Review: The Shakespeare Theatre Company's The Liar
This paper is a theatre review of the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of The Liar at the Lansburgh Theatre in Washington, D.C. It examines David Ives' modern translation of Pierre Corneille's seventeenth-century French farce, evaluating the wit and playfulness of the dialogue, the performances of the principal cast, Michael Kahn's direction, and the production's costume and set design. The reviewer argues that while the play offers little beyond pure comedy, the masterful crafting of that comedy — rooted in Corneille's original and elevated by Ives' rhyming couplets — makes it an unmissable theatrical experience for audiences in the nation's capital.
- Opening Impressions and the Spirit of the Play: Audience reaction and play's comedic nature
- Plot, Characters, and the French Farce Tradition: Plot summary and farce conventions explored
- Corneille, Ives, and the Power of the Dialogue: Adaptation relationship and dialogue brilliance
- Cast Performances and Comic Timing: Individual actor evaluations and comedic skill
- Direction, Design, and Visual Spectacle: Kahn's direction, costumes, and set design
- Final Verdict: Overall recommendation for D.C. audiences
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What makes this paper effective
- The review balances appreciation for historical context — Corneille's Restoration-era constraints — with evaluation of the modern adaptation, showing the student understands the relationship between source material and contemporary theatrical production.
- Vivid, specific descriptive language ("titters, chuckles, and outright guffaws"; "dancing ever on the precipice") conveys the live theatrical experience convincingly, giving the reader a strong sense of atmosphere.
- The writer evaluates multiple production elements — dialogue, acting, direction, costume, and set design — methodically, demonstrating a structured critical approach rather than a simple personal reaction.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This review demonstrates the technique of evaluative synthesis: the writer does not merely describe what happens on stage but weighs each production element against an implicit critical standard, explaining why something works rather than simply stating that it does. For instance, the analysis of Ives' rhyming couplets explicitly credits Corneille's foundation while attributing the wit to Ives' originality — a nuanced distinction that elevates the review beyond surface-level praise.
Structure breakdown
The review opens with audience reaction as an atmospheric hook, then contextualizes the play's setting in Washington, D.C. It moves through plot summary, an analysis of the source-to-adaptation relationship, individual cast evaluations, and an assessment of direction and design, before closing with a recommendation. This journalistic pyramid structure — broad impressions narrowing to specific craft elements, then widening again to a general recommendation — is characteristic of professional theatre criticism.
Opening Impressions and the Spirit of the Play
Listening to the buzz of the audience during intermission gives a pretty good impression of the value of this new — well, new again — play. David Ives' updated and translated version of the seventeenth-century French farce The Liar by Pierre Corneille does not offer fodder for deep introspective conversation, nor does it inspire animated discussion of current social issues over glasses of red wine clutched in the hands of fur-clad matrons in attendance. Instead, titters, chuckles, and outright guffaws could be heard from the moment the house lights came up until the final subduing of the audience as seats — and the action — resumed. There is high comedy in this play and very little else, but when the pure comedy itself is as masterfully crafted and as universally entertaining as it is here, nothing else is really necessary; in fact, anything more would only serve as a distraction.
Seeing a play called The Liar in the heart of the nation's capital, a mere two blocks from the International Spy Museum and less than two miles from the White House and other major seats of the federal government, might carry certain connotations and expectations. Check these with your coat and leave them outside the theatre, however, and let yourself enjoy the ride.
Plot, Characters, and the French Farce Tradition
Corneille's story revolves around a French gadabout who is simply incapable of telling the truth, recently arrived in Paris to find himself a wife. A set of mistaken identities — some purposeful, some otherwise — ratchets up the hilarity of the situation and the hyperbole of the language to a fevered pace.
In the tradition of a true French farce, lovers' triangles and quadrangles abound, though they are not always known to the characters involved. Dorante, the eponymous protagonist, woos one woman with his magnificent falsehoods while believing she is actually her friend; these two women willingly engage in perpetuating this perception with wonderful innuendo in some especially memorable scenes. Dorante's servant, meanwhile, is in love with one of a set of twins — played indistinguishably by the very same actress — and he can never seem to tell which one he is talking to. Despite these convolutions, the plot is actually relatively simple, and even if you get lost at some point the dialogue remains engaging and humorous enough to make plot considerations almost non-essential.
Corneille, Ives, and the Power of the Dialogue
This is not to disparage Corneille, who was, it must be acknowledged, working within the constraints of French Restoration-era comedy — a genre not especially known for the depth of its social value or the real consequence of its characters' actions. His characters are well-crafted and truly memorable, though they have lain forgotten by the theatre and literary world for quite some time. Without this foundation, it is certain that Ives would not have been able to achieve what he did with the script.
The rhyming couplets that this modern playwright lifted from the French into modern English, however, bounce with a wit and playfulness that is wholly original. It is in the dialogue — the extravagances, the intricacies, and the verbal sparring and lovemaking that Ives crafted with inspiration from Corneille — that this play finds its true genius.
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