Sarasota's Asolo Conservatory stages 'The Liar' by David Ives

Three years ago, the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training staged a gorgeous and hilarious production of "The School for Lies." Earlier that same season, Asolo Repertory Theatre had produced "Venus in Fur." A lot of people who follow area theater think those were two of the finest Asolo plays in recent years.

Besides their excellence, the two shows had something significant in common: They both came from the amazing mind of playwright David Ives. Ives may or may not be the best playwright in America right now. He's almost certainly the funniest.

Next week, Asolo Conservatory is offering yet another Ives work, "The Liar."

Like "The School for Lies," "The Liar" is Ives' translation and adaptation of a classic farce. In this case, it's a 16th-century piece by the 17th-century French playwright Pierre Corneille.

"Even though it is still hysterical," Justin Lucero said of Corneille's original, "it doesn't feel contemporary enough to present today without shaking it up a bit." Lucero is directing the Asolo Conservatory production. It's his first time directing in this area, but he spent last year as Asolo Rep's first directing fellow.

As in "The School for Lies," which is based on Moliere's "The Misanthrope," Ives' sticks closely to the basic story, but eliminates some of the elements that feel dated and adds a few contemporary twists.

And, as in "The School for Lies," he writes in rhyming couplets, from start to finish.

"He really does amazing work," Lucero said. "He is faithful to the original, but he injects his own thing. He really does pay attention to every subplot, every rhyme."

The plot has to do with a man named Dorante who meets two women -- Lucrece and Clarice. He impresses them with tales of his exploits, which are completely fabricated. He decides to pursue Clarice but he has the two women's names confused and thinks she's Lucrece. Meanwhile his father has coincidentally arranged for Dorante to marry Clarice, but because he has confused the names, he resists. In his job as the directing fellow last year, Lucero worked a lot with the Asolo Conservatory students who are now in "The Liar." They were the understudies in the Asolo Rep shows last year, so he built a rapport with them.

He was impressed with them then, he said, and he's even more impressed now.

"This play is such a challenge," he said. "Not only does it have to be physically perfect, but it has to honor David Ives and his words. You have to make the rhymes feel right in the audience's ear, and you also have to be funny. We'll spend 20 minutes one a single couplet to make sure we get it right, and these student actors are happy to do that. That's very unusual, in my experience. They're fantastic."

Details: Dec. 30-Jan. 17, Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. No performance on Jan. 1; 2 p.m. matinee Jan. 2. Tickets: $14-$29. Information: 941-351-8000, asolorep.org.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Sarasota's Asolo Conservatory stages 'The Liar' by David Ives ."