Review-He & She- Liars' League
26-2-13
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Liars League is a "live fiction event" similar to a Reader's Theatre, where new writing is read out loud by professional actors. Their tag line is, "Writers write. Actors read. Everybody wins." Tonight I travelled to local art bar Joyce Is Not Here to hear the tales woven. There were eight stories in total, ranging from the hilariously innapropriate Threesome performed by Michael Rogers to the more serious Tempting Fate performed by Harry Oram. The evening was made into a full evening of entertainment by local folk band Homestead.
Joyce was a packed house with people standing in the streets unable to get in. The audience was excited to hear their bedtime stories. The theme of the night was He & She. Sounds simple enough. Man vs. Woman. The battle of the sexes. I was surprised there was less sex in the readings as I would have thought an evening of "he & she" would have been full of sexy moments. Instead we got a multitude of situations, from cyclists stopping a rape in progress to a post apocalyptic world where man and woman still find comfort in one another.
It was a casual affair and, best of all, free! (Can't beat the ticket price...) I recommend it to cash strapped people who want to do something cultural but find themeselves without the cash for theatre tickets. It's a great alternative and a fun evening.
The one confusing part of the show for me as an audience member had to do with format. The performers were using the "Book of Lies". Some of the actors were doing staged readings and some tried to be offbook. This led to a couple of moments of "oh shit" faces when they went up on the next line. This happened only a few times and although didn't detract from the evening overall it was noticable. I think the show was very entertaining but I think the style of performance should be consistent. If the "Book of Lies" is there for them to read from it would be an easier choice; to do it as Reader's Theatre. After all, their tag line is "Actors read." not "Actors memorize."
My favorite performance of the night belonged to Alex Milner who got the opening piece of the evening. He read Jervis Street by Steve Dodd. His vocal choices solidified the moments within the story and made the ending resonate with the audience. I believe I heard someone whisper in the audience afterward: "Wow."
My favorite story was Semi-Detached, which was performed by Keon Woong Lee. A sci fi story that told of an epic battle between man and woman. It reminded me a lot of the relationship between Tamora and Titus in Titus Andronicus. I thought it was inventive, well written and something very different.
All and all, my night at Liars' League was super fun. I will be going back next month where the theme will be Fairytales and Nightmares. If you find yourself with nothing to do on the last Monday of the month then run on down to Liars' League where everybody wins!
Liars' League, "He & She" was a one time performance. For more information please click here.
Comments
hannah
So nice meeting you last night! I really liked the first one. Do you know how many of the writers were local?
26 February 2013meaghan
I actually don't know how many of the writers were local. You can contact liars league hk at their facebook page or blog to find out.
26 February 2013bub
alex and mike were great.
07 March 2013