Photography by Brian Peters, courtesy of St. Louis Shakespeare
Nicole Angeli, Jared Sanz-Agero, and Maggie Murphy
Ah, the French farce: clever, sexy, and sophisticated—with pinkies extended and demure chortles. But what if new-wave musician Adam Ant art-directed one and the jokes referenced cell phones, soiled tights, and Star Wars?
Suki Peters—who is directing St. Louis Shakespeare's production of The Liar, a 21st-century adaptation of the 1643 Pierre Corneille play—cites Ant, Cyndi Lauper, and the video for the 1989 Falco hit "Rock Me Amadeus" as influences for the show’s look and sound.
“We kind of wanted to go with high fashion, but it’s a farce,” says Peters. “I wanted it to look like the most decadent wedding cake you’ve ever seen. If I look at it and it gives me a toothache, you’re on the right track.” To that end, expect wigs, corsets, and swords in '80s-inspired bright shades of neon.
In the play, our hero Dorante, who's incapable of telling the truth, arrives in Paris in search of adventure and thrills. The mendacious romantic has a sidekick who can only speak with complete honesty. A pair of deliciously double-talking women ensnare Dorante, and a set of servants develop their own complicated love plot. Don’t be surprised that, at some point, someone’s going to have to duel.
David Ives, the Chicago native who updated the play in 2010, has made something of a cottage industry out of updating old texts. In addition to French classics like Moliere’s The Misanthrope, he's given his signature treatment to native son Mark Twain with the Broadway run of Is He Dead? Ives is also known for Words, Words, Words, a one-act riff on the old cliché about how an infinite number of monkeys pounding on an infinite number of typewriters would eventually produce Hamlet.
Ives brings classic comedy to light for younger generations who might struggle with jokes delivered in old-fashioned language. His plays stay true to the source material, but include updates delivered with a light touch: For example, a scroll might be illuminated with a strobe light—despite it being the 1640s.
Actress Jamie Pitt plays twin servants Isabelle and Sabine. Her costuming bends gender a bit, with “a lady David Bowie thing going on,” she says, adding that the stiff garments and unwieldy swords make for some physically challenging acting.
The show opens this Friday, August 15, and continues until August 24. Show times are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays. For more information, click here.
