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Main Stage – Goethe Institut
Remaining Performances:
Sunday, July 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 19 at 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 20 at 7:15 p.m.
They say: Four people tell a story. All are captivating but only three are true. Listen. Laugh. Interrogate. Vote. Can you spot the liar? Don’t miss this underground DC smash-hit which always sells out. Different stories every night. Are you shrewd enough?
Lauren’s Take: Beginning with a wickedly cute theme song, Perfect Liars Club is an evening of playing detective. Four storytellers spin their tales, and we must figure out who among them is lying to us.
Creator Layla McCay moderates the show and explains the rules. The order in which the storytellers perform is determined by pulling names from a hat. The lineup will be different for each performance, but the opening night roster — Cara Foran, Pedro Alcocer, Kevin Boggs, and Pierce McManus — was exciting. Cara started off the evening with a story of her safari tour through the Serengeti with a distracted tour guide. Pedro shared his misfortune when he lost, yes, lost a computer and all of the data on a research trip abroad. Kevin reminisced about a childhood evening spent at an Elvis concert. And Pierce spoke on his drunken high school prom adventures.
Once the stories were through, the audience deliberated and subjected the storytellers to a 30-minute interrogation. Many in the audience proved to be less shrewd than they imagined they were. The questions from the audience as they attempt to narrow in on plot details and suss out the fibber didn’t produce much clarity, but these interlocutions were definitely the most enjoyable aspect of the evening. After all of the questioning, my audience was evenly split on whodunit.
Apparently, if you are a returning audience member to Perfect Liars Club throughout their Fringe run, and you choose the liar at least once correctly, you can win a prize! Like, tickets to theatre and stuff. So that’s cool if you want to sit through some fairly fascinating stories.
See it if: You’re a detective, a psychologist, or a pathological liar yourself.
Skip it if: Pinocchio makes you queasy.