Open Theatre’s ‘Liar, Liar’: In a World of Liars, Be a Scuba Diver

Holly Dobbing, Year 3; Photo credits: Hannah Riley

Written by Kate Newell, Open Theatre’s ‘Liar, Liar’ illustrated a witty insight into our motivations for lying and how to live outside of society’s expectations. The play followed Mona, a compulsive liar who was a bit of a mess, albeit a witty and hilarious one. She was navigating her 20s and figuring out her identity and how to be comfortable being herself, and letting go of her pathological urge to lie… including telling everyone she was a scuba diver. 

The set was beautiful. Waiting for the play to begin, we were immediately transported into a floral, green environment – one that I can’t help but feel juxtaposes Mona’s life so completely with its authenticity and naturalness. The set was glowing under pink and green lights—again it looked beautiful. I was already excited. Another thing I particularly enjoyed was the awkward elevator music and Wii music between scenes. It certainly established the funny, satirical aspect of the play from the get-go. 

The play opened with a standing bed and a tranquil, sleepy tone. Mona began discussing her ‘favourite part of the day…’ until she was rudely interrupted by a noise we all dread to our core… her alarm. We followed Mona to work, where she was chastised by her boss, flirted with by Jim, the token creepy colleague, and repeatedly patronised by Christina, the pristine ‘pick-me’ girl. She met a psychic who told her she would isolate herself through her lies, and she hit a new rock bottom after quitting her awful job. We joined her in various awkward encounters and a cringe-worthy date, before she finally found a new job in a florist with Harri. Harri marked a real change in Mona, as they were able to see through her lies and encourage her to be truthful. Mona began to make changes, telling the truth and being honest in situations she would have lied in previously. After an awkward kiss and a heartfelt conversation, Harri and Mona agreed to remain friends and they accompanied Mona to her birthday dinner with her family. Mona blew out her candles and the curtain fell. 

Grace Conway gave Mona a naturally hilarious flare. I loved Mona as a character from the get-go and I really felt I got to know her quickly. The still images and moments when she broke the 4^th wall were brilliantly hilarious and so tactfully done. Something I think Conway was particularly skilled in was creating such a funny character with a slight edge, immediately giving me the impression that whilst she seemed so happy, she was sad deep down. 

Emily Moores was fantastic as Harri, alongside other minor roles. She was able to create a really authentic and believable character who seemed to be genuinely interested in Mona’s wellbeing. Harri is able to coax the truth out of Mona and uncovers a real side to her that they and the audience haven’t seen yet. 

I really enjoyed watching Mona and Harri’s relationship develop on stage. We finally got to see a more awkward, vulnerable side to Mona and that grounded her as a well-rounded, developed character. I loved that Newell included the stand-up bed a second time, and not only was it just as hilarious the second time around, but also it highlighted the huge change we’d already witnessed in Mona. This made Mona’s heartbreak even more painful to witness because we’d been on the journey with her as she tried to improve herself. I really felt her pain and I liked that Newell chose to have a more subdued storyline rather than a big happy ending as soon as Mona became more honest. 

Niko Burns gave a fantastic performance as the ‘Hippy Psychic’, warning Mona with cryptic advice (and a tip off from creepy colleague Jim) that her lies will isolate her until no one truly knows who she is, not even herself. She had a strange, zen aura, but with snippets of aggression that made for a hilarious scene. However, I thought Burns particularly shined as Lucy, Mona’s friend from university who carried an air of condescension so thick, I’m surprised she could still breathe. I was incredibly impressed that Burns was able to perform such unique characters so seemingly effortlessly. 

Lydia Baggaley absolutely shone as Rachel – an influencer and model who is equally as self-obsessed and dishonest as Mona. I particularly enjoyed the complete mockery of celebrities and social media through Rachel’s satirical ­­self-importance and reference to current influences, such as Molly-Mae’s ‘we all have the same 24 hours in day’ comment. Baggaley illustrated her ability to play ­­­such a hyperbolic character whilst still having a sense of sincerity and not taking us too far out of the naturalism of the play. Newell clearly demonstrated her brilliant comical mind in this scene – it was absolutely brilliant! Alisha Walton was like a chameleon, playing various smaller roles as Jim, Mona’s colleague, Mona’s brother, and other minor parts. I thought she was funny and gave a really convincing male impression. Although, I felt at times, the multiple characters she played were fairly similar, so a more exaggerated costume change may have made following her different roles more clear. 

In fact, I felt the main challenge this production had was that if the audience was expected to follow the different characters that Mona interacts with, they needed to be distinct enough to know immediately that they are in fact different characters. I think to some extent, this was really well done through costume changes and the actors’ abilities to transform through a variety of personalities and personas, however, like I mentioned with some of Walton’s characters, this wasn’t always flawless. I think that this was a credit to the actors to be able to showcase such a huge variety, but occasionally it did take a couple of seconds for me to decipher if I was meeting the same character or a new one. 

I did note that as the play ended, it felt quite abrupt, and I found myself unsure if it was just a particularly long scene change or if the play really had ended. Unfortunately, it felt as though Mona’s character arc was cut slightly short and I didn’t experience her full learning and growing as person that I was initially expecting. I felt like things may become even worse before Mona realised she desperately needed to change, but instead she did just simply become more honest. Part of me enjoys the unexpected ending as it gives a more realistic and relatable story – not all endings are happy or fully finished. I think it also speaks for Mona’s imperfectness. However, I was left wanting a bit more of her big life change and it felt a little underwhelming after such an otherwise brilliant show. 

And I would just like to finish with a huge congratulations to the production team who worked behind the scenes to make the play such a success – Ellie Mullins, Caroline Rauch, Kate Matthews, Misia Kozanecka, Sara Roche and Anna Duffell.