I had trouble knowing what to write about this play. I don’t evaluate productions. I discuss what they make me think about. But this production didn’t make me think about anything. Or not anything in particular. At first.
The Liar’s Bible by Fiona Samuel is a set of intriguing interconnected contemporary stories. It’s as though the writer, in casting a wide net, is hoping to catch as much of life as possible.
Or is the point the net itself?
Many of the characters are story makers; a poet, a filmmaker, a philosopher, a woman trying to discover her personal history. They are characters attempting to structure the unstructured perplexity of life.
So this is a story about stories? And so the great philosophic problem of the endless regression opens up before us like facing mirrors, in which we see a reflection of a reflection of a ……
For here am I telling a story about a story about telling a story. And now, dear reader, you are telling yourself a story about me telling a story about…
There are two solutions to this problem that I know; the sardonic or the ironic.
The first is to close your eyes to it, by acknowledging it only blandly.
The second is to accept it fully – and the feeble inability of our thoughts to master existence – and laugh.
And the play encourages this with a heap of funny lines and heartfelt moments. Julie Baz’s production is engaging and she elicits some good performances from her cast, in particular Paul Armstrong and Mark Langham.
I did have trouble knowing what to write about this play. But I enjoyed watching it.
Veronica Kaye
The Liar’s Bible
Sydney Independent Theatre Company til 19 May
http://www.sitco.net.au/