With last years critically acclaimed THE FATHER followed by the equally highly praised THE MOTHER, the Parisian playwright Florian Zeller has already made a strong mark for himself in British theatre. THE TRUTH, which transferred to THE WYNDHAM'S THEATRE is yet an another great piece of writing from Zeller, but Lindsay Posner's production lacks a naturalistic sense of direction, turning Christopher Hampton's translation of THE TRUTH into a farcical Noel Coward like play.Michel (Alexander Hanson) is having an affair with Alice (Frances O'Connor), his best friend's Paul (Robert Portal) wife. He is by no means interested in coming clean to his own wife Laurence (Tanya Franks) and neither does he have any deep feelings for his mistress. Michel is the stereotypical alpha male, the over achiever who always seems to find a way of getting what he wants. Although he himself is free of any guilt he can't stop Alice from clearing her conscience, telling her husband everything and unfolding the pack of lies and hypocrisies that surround the two couples.
Zeller possess a gift of creating characters that although quite stereotypical still seem truthful and engaging. Unfortunately Lindsay Posner's direction results in grotesquely over acted performances from all the members of his cast. It seems that there is a thin line between a comedy a farce and Posner crosses that line many times . Of course THE TRUTH is essentially a comedy, but with such direction it lacks believability and makes one care less for the story. It's a shame, especially since all of the four actors, including the Golden Globe nominated Frances O'Connor are more than capable of delivering great performances. Tanya Franks as Laurence is the one who shines in this production as she seems to breaks away on a couple of occasions from the farcical directions and does justices to Zeller's writing.
Lizzie Clahan's design of sliding walls, which create a different background for each of the seven scenes in the piece combines well with Zeller's writing: a writing full of twists, illusions, a writing which reminds us that this is all a game and everything can change within a second.
Perhaps with a more serious approach THE TRUTH could be a poignant, dark comedy, instead even though it provides plenty of laughter Posner's production is quite a forgettable one with a lot of lost potential.
I'm a big fan of the Above the Stag Theatre, the UK's only venue dedicated to in-house productions of plays and musicals aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. It regularly premiers fascinating, provocative and skillful drama for this demographic from around the world, I've written and directed there myself, hope to again and you may recall my recent enthusiasm for their production that explored homophobia in Iran.