Why do we lie?
★★★★☆ Fun
Greenside @ Riddles Court (Venue 16): Mon 19 – Sat 24 Aug 2024
Review by Marion Geoffray
Why Do We Lie? by the Napier University Drama Society at Greenside’s Riddles Court uses a series of short comedy skits to explore the reasons and circumstances around why humans lie.
Writer and co-director Sula McDonald has created a seamlessly intertwined set of stories for the eight-strong ensemble. Each sketch questions whether lying can be justified in the name of hope, success, love and commodity – without ever being moralising.
Some the cast of Napier University Drama Society’s Why Do We Lie? Pic: NUDS.
Starting in prehistoric times, with Andrew Holmes putting on a very physical display of primitive manhood opposite cavepeople Elizabeth Dron and Maisie Lumgair, it skips to a modern museum where tour guide Johnny Gemmell loses his will to live in front of Catriona Millar’s five-year-old visitor.
There’s a scene in the corporate world, featuring a “too honest for their own good” intern (Sophia Rose) and a restaurant, where an influencer Sahil Mahmood is being “influenced”, while a contestant (Ethan Lennon) risks it all in a TV game show.
All the performers take on several roles, in both the entertaining group scenes and the more intimate duologues, which gives everyone the opportunity to shine. The company’s energy and passion for this show is obvious and they all work very hard to make it a success. Rose, delivering a subtle and subdued performance as a parent for example, is a particular highlight, and so are Gemmell and Lennon as a touching couple living a WW2 forbidden love story.
Commedia dell’arte
Under McDonald and Andy Scott’s direction, there’s something almost Commedia dell’arte-esque about the whole production. The use of stereotypical characters and status for example, or the comedy coming from physicality as well as from language.
The company make full use of the studio space, with the many entrances and exits adding a rhythm to the otherwise simple but effective staging.
Although a few meta moments and jokes are a bit on the nose, the company is full of surprises and promises. This fast-paced and feel-good show will make you laugh and leave with a smile.
Running time: 50 minutes (no interval)
Greenside at Riddles Court (Thistle Theatre), 322 Lawnmarket, EH1 2PG (Venue 16)
Monday 19 – Saturday 24 August 2024
Daily: 6.30pm
Details and tickets at: Book here
Website: www.napierstudents.com
Facebook: @napierNUDS
Instagram: @napiernuds
Linktree: @napiernuds
ENDS
