BWW Reviews: Canapes and Rhymes Fly at David Ives's THE SCHOOL FOR LIES, at Theatre Vertigo

There is a lot of very serious drama happening across Portland stages right now -- family drama, psychodrama, political drama, Tennessee Williams. But thankfully none of that is happening at the Shoebox Theatre, where Theatre Vertigo is staging David Ives's saucy period comedy THE SCHOOL FOR LIES.

THE SCHOOL FOR LIES is based on Moliere's 17th-century French farce THE MISANTHROPE. David Ives has changed the plot a bit and updated it to modern language, though it is still written entirely in verse. For the Theatre Vertigo production, director JoAnn Johnson has made the play straddle the centuries even more by using a mashup of period and modern costuming and some surprise pop culture references that I won't tell you about.

The plot is not easily sum-up-able. Philinte (played by Tom Mounsey) introduces a new friend, Frank, to French court. This friend has the major flaw of telling everything exactly as he sees it, rather than giving in to inconveniences such as politeness or social niceties. With his brash manner, he immediately alienates all of the men (except Philinte) and attracts all of the women, and what ensues is a tangled web of infatuation, gossip, scandal, and, of course, lies. It's funny and fairly predictable, but really the appeal of this play has little to do with the plot.

It's that the whole play is written in verse -- rhyming couplets, just like the original Moliere. The rhymes in this play come sometimes at the end of a sentence, sometimes in the middle, sometimes over the course of conversation, but they always come. As you get used to it, you'll start trying to predict the rhymes before the actors get there. You can start preparing now -- what rhymes with "Junior Mints"?

The comedy is also highly physical, which may not play as well on a large stage, but is brilliant in the tiny Shoebox Theatre. On my way into the theatre, I was advised by the house manager to "be prepared to duck." It was good advice.

For a play like this to work, the ensemble must be extremely strong, and they are. Nathan Dunkin (who has appeared in all three Theatre Vertigo shows this season) plays Frank with enough bristles and charm that you understand why the men hate him and the women love him. Stephanie Cordell is fantastic as the witty and sharp-tongued Celimene, the main female character and object of Frank's affection. Heath Koerschgen slithers his way into the role of Clitander so well that I didn't recognize him. The rest of the cast is just as good, as they have to be, to pull off a play that is just one big poem.

So, when you need a break (and you will) from the family drama, the psychodrama, the political drama, and the Tennessee Williams, go see THE SCHOOL FOR LIES. And be prepared to duck.

THE SCHOOL FOR LIES plays through May 9. For tickets, visit www.theatrevertigo.org.
Photo credit: Gary Norman

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