Review: LE MENSONGE (THE LIE) at Beit Lessin Theatre

It was only a few months ago when Florian Zeller's comedy The Lie received its English language world premiere at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London, and once again Beit Lessin Theatre brings such new and recent material to Israel, with no other than Lior Ashkenazi as the director.

In this play, a companion creation to Zeller's earlier play The Truth which was also presented by Beit Lessin Theatre five years ago, Alice and her husband Paul are waiting for their guests Michel and Laurence to arrive for dinner at their house. While waiting, Alice tells her husband that she saw Michel, his best friend, kissing another woman that very afternoon, leaving her with a dilemma whether she should say something to Laurence, his wife and her friend, or not. Paul believes they should behave as if nothing has happened while Alice isn't quite sure about that. Following the awkward dinner an argument begins between the two and as their own relationship is tested, what's the truth and what's a lie becomes a question quite impossible to be answered.

It sounds like a standard storyline, though naïvely eventually it is quite extreme, but when it comes to a play that's written by Florian Zeller, just like other great plays he wrote (many of them were also presented by Beit Lessin Theatre) he has a way to make the audience doubt if what they understand at any point in the play is right and most of all does one of the best things theatre can do- he makes people think. In this play Zeller does so by playing games with the viewers' minds, making them ask themselves- Who's the liar? Who should we root for? Is that finally the truth? Nevertheless, at some point in the middle of the play it becomes a bit too exhausting, as if "we get the joke and the idea, we need something new to happen now". Unfortunately, it takes around 15 minutes until that something new occurs when it could easily have been a while sooner.
Still, the script is witty and even before the play begins the fun mood is set thanks to the announcement calling to turn the mobile phones off unexpectedly being in French as well as the jaunty and very well suited music by Daniel Salomon. Deepening such ambiance was the combination between the fun and light movement by Kim Gordon along with Orna Smorgonsky's costumes and especially set that included surprising special effects towards the end of the play.

Currently playing in two other plays, Avi Kushnir proves once again what a brilliant actor he is with as he effortlessly shifts between emotions and demonstrates incredible facial expressions while playing Paul. Playing Alice, it took a few minutes for Lilian Barreto to warm up and get into her role, but once she did she definitely delivered, with the highlight being a very impressive segment that almost felt like a speech which immediately resulted in Barreto receiving very well deserved great applause from the audience. Although all four cast members need a bit more rehearsals on the scenes being repeated, completing this wonderful team are Hai Maor as Michel and Adi Gilat as Laurence.

Zeller created yet another interesting piece and with the work of director Lior Ashkenazi and everyone else involved in this production it surely brings to life both an entertaining and mind whirling creation worth experiencing.

Photo Credit: Raday Rubinstain.
For tickets and further information, visit Beit Lessin Theatre.

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