Fringe Gets Strange with Lies We Tell

The next show we saw on our whirlwind trip to New York was at the intimate Players Theatre, and I was sure thankful for seats with a cushion. The show screamed Fringe Fest. Lies We Tell Ourselves (When Flamethrowers Aren't Enough) was a show that tried to be "out of the box." However, it felt like they kicked “the box” into the street and ran in the opposite direction.

Avenue Theater takes risk. We like thinking "out of the box," which is what drew us to this show. But this show was not a good fit for the theater that produced Girls Only, Smell of the Kill, Hedwig, Scriptprov and Murder Most Fowl. While pushing boundaries is important, we believe that unconventional shows can be genuinely entertaining and fun. There is a place for theater of the uncomfortable, but not here. However, Lies We Tell Ourselves was focused on convincing the audience that they may have unknowingly abused their loved ones.

There was nothing resembling a traditional storyline. At one point, one of the characters even broke the fourth wall to comment on how it would be ill-advised to have a show without a plot. Instead, we were thrown into a metaphysical dark comedy that took place inside the mind of a man, Gabe, who ran out of a wedding.

Gabe has to figure out why he's trapped in his own mind, and doesn't realize the other characters are figments of his imagination until about fifteen minutes into the show. The three other characters, besides being figments of Gabe's imagination, are his best friend and two former lovers. Through a series of vignettes, we learn whose wedding Gabe ran out of, how all of them are involved in his life, and why someone can't empathize with pain if they haven't truly experienced loss.

While the show is a dark comedy (and it certainly has some laughs throughout), it would be difficult to call it funny. In fact, after over an hour of mostly dialogue, one of the characters went into a lengthy solo scene about how she was raped as a child, and how it affected her relationship with Gabe. I found myself longing for some sort of structure or catharsis, but never really got it.

A play with four characters talking to the audience without any real action or resolution is certainly risky, and we appreciate the balls that it took to write and produce such a unique piece. However, I left the theater feeling ennervated, doubting every word I'd ever said to a lover. This is a good show that gets the audience outside of the comfort zone, but at Avenue Theater, when we challenge an audience, we like to throw them off-guard with a laugh or two.

Thankfully, we had one more show to see, and it turned out to be a funny one with potential for production back in Denver.