School for Lies

[skynyc]

School for Lives is an updating of Moliere's The Misanthrope playing at the Classic Stage Company on 13th Street. It stars Mamie Gummer and Hamish Linkletter, (both of whom are recognizable from current TV shows, but lots of stage cred), and two faves of mine...Jenn Gambatese and Alison Fraser.

 

The first act didn't quite work for me...and I cannot figure out why, but I saw an early preview, and the second act worked so well, that I think it was that they just don't have the pacing down yet in Act One.

 

The performances are all terrific, and the shows contemporary language make some getting used to in juxtaposition with the authentically Moliere-era period costumes. There are some great laughs, but the modern references ("LOL" being the one that comes to mind) will piss off the classical purists, while the couplets make it more for avid theater-goers than someone simply looking for an evening's entertainment.