Over at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, they're partying like it's 1666.
The School for Lies by David Ives, which opened Friday night, is most likely the most hilarious thing any theater will offer anytime soon.
In adapting Moliere's The Misanthrope for modern audiences, Ives retains the poetry (in rhymed pentameter couplets) and the plotline, but has introduced a distinctly 21st-century accent.
Celimene (Janie Brookshire), a beautiful and witty widow, has been dangling three most unsuitable suitors (Patrick Halley as ignorant Acaste, Mark Light-Orr as arrogant Clitander and Shawn Fagan as oblivious Oronte.
That's until rude, crude, misanthropic Frank (Jeremy Rishe) shows up, a Frenchman returned from England and the proverbial bull in the china shop, who, with the help of a couple of well-placed lies, causes everything to go awry. A bit of theatrical prestidigitation eventually makes all turn out right, right down to the final funny bit.
The production features nonpareil performances not only from these principals, but from Joe Wegner as Frank's friend Philinte, Carine Montbertrand as serpentine Arsinoe, Gabriella Fanuele as Celimene's innocent cousin Eliante and, particularly, scene-stealing Michael Fell in the dual role of Dubois, Celimene's canape-serving servant, and Basque, Frank's scuzzy valet (think Patsy in Spamalot).
That aside, Robert Mark Morgan's spectacular set, Rafael Colon Castanera's incredible costumes and Gerard Kelly's wigs would be worth the price of admission.
There's a fair helping of period-appropriate bawdiness, which might be passable in front of enlightened children, and some current, child-inappropriate language that mightn't, quite. (Presumably they're making adjustments if they're doing school shows.) Pre-show music includes a couple of harpsichord tunes, but most of it doesn't exactly create a period mood.
Moliere-ian merriment continues, 7 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday through Oct. 29 at the Rep, Sixth and Main streets, Little Rock. Ticket information is available by calling (501) 378-0405 or online at TheRep.org.
Metro on 10/14/2017