The Liar NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (151)
See it if you like those Shakespeare-esque "switcharoo" plays centered around misinformation, you are partial to well written, pun-y language.
Don't see it if you don't like plays whose main conflict is "the audience knows something the characters don't", you don't like plays told in verse. Read more
See it if You enjoy David Ives farcical interpretations, great cast, great fun
Don't see it if near slapstick farce is unappealing to you
See it if you could use a light-hearted distraction from more serious matters that might be weighing on your mind.
Don't see it if you have a low tolerance for silliness, lawyer jokes, or plots that involve mistaken identity.
See it if You like broad farce and expert comic performances.
Don't see it if Don't like farce or slapstick-type comedy or if you don't want to follow pieces done in verse.
See it if you want to see a rarely performed play by Corneille with a few outstanding performances and clever choices.
Don't see it if anachronistic translations drive you crazy, along with definitely uneven casting.
See it if you are a fan of Shakespeare's comedies, as this is essentially a new one.
Don't see it if you don't like rhyme or iambic pentameter.
See it if you're in the mood for what is probably a fun night of theatre.
Don't see it if my opinion is a bit biased by my sitting in an uncomfortable seat.
See it if You enjoy: Charming comedies in pentameter, Smart wordplay by David Ives, Luscious costumes (a la Three Musketeers).
Don't see it if You're looking for: big deep laughs, simple words, fully linear understanding.
Critic Reviews (40)
"Undoubtedly funny and utterly ridiculous in all the best ways…With all of its over-the-top ridiculousness, ‘The Liar’ takes farcical theater to its limits, and its campy, hyperbolic rendering of the form teeters just on the edge of being too much without ever really going over...Regards must be given to playwright David Ives...and director Michael Kahn for interpreting the vision, but the cast also stands out for being the vehicles of the hilariously absurd."
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"Corneille's comedy 'The Liar' is every bit as delightful as any play by Moliere...In this production, the language is the star of the show. David Ives has created a delightful feast of witty verse. It is sometimes anachronistic, sometimes raunchy, often surprising and always great fun. The actors seems to relish the chance to speak language like this... Veteran Michael Kahn has directed with flair, but never allows the physical action to upstage the verbal wit."
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"This play is for everybody who loves words, word play, unexpected puns and rhymes of an unbound imagination. It’s hilarious–and expands one's sense of the English language...Michael Kahn has directed an able cast, with Christian Conn as Dorante, Ismenia Mendes as Clarice, Amelia Pedlow as Lucrece, and others who share their perfect timing to fill out the humor. I particularly loved Carson Elrod as Dorante’s bumpkin butler—naive but he learns fast...It’s a privilege to see 'The Liar.'"
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"An airy and erudite adaptation of Corneille’s 'Le Menteur'...The humor builds to a riotous second act finale, but in the age of fake news and shallow denigration from the highest office, serious subtext can’t help but be felt...Director Kahn brings a deft comic touch that’s necessary for farce. The biggest laughs carry a catharsis with them and a lack of retribution seems fitting. The cast works intuitively off each other, grounded by a seemingly effortless tour-de-force performance by Elrod."
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“It's a masterwork of baroque plotting, a little comic fugue in which the simplest of conceits leads to a host of convoluted entanglements. The biggest surprise is that Corneille, one of French literature's most revered tragedians, could be so funny…An expert dramatist in his own right and a delightful versifier, Ives is in top form. A virtuoso script like this will flounder without a strong hand and strong performers, but this show handles it spectacularly.”
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"Refashioned in a clever new adaptation written totally in verse by playwright David Ives and staged with cheerful abandon...A blissful romp packed with shameless puns, wacky anachronisms and fanciful repartee...Michael Kahn is clearly drawn to the humorous yet touching story as well as Ives’ clever wordplay, and emphasizes both in this fast-paced production...Ives’ rollicking 'Liar' makes a zesty interlude, propelled by its infectious demonstration of joie de vivre."
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"You'll giggle, you'll groan. Mostly, though, you'll be tickled with director Kahn's steadily guided production...The adapter has pulled whole new sequences out of his imagination...Some of the poetic jousting will strike you as precious. Kahn's cast, though, has been well drilled in the reserved technique of not telegraphing the rampant silliness. These likable performers allow us to feel as if a little bit of mendacity were good for the soul."
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"Ives's adaptation of Corneille's comedy is such fun you won't want to miss a word. Especially if you enjoy word play, sword play, foreplay, irony and physical humor. Corneille and Ives have concocted a farce that maintains the charm and look of French costume drama in English language that is contemporary, very accessible and in pentameter!...The cast works very well as an ensemble thanks to Kahn whose direction keeps the words and actions tumbling at a good pace."
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