As an angsty teen growing up in Connecticut I always pictured myself attending an ‘”off Broadway theater” performance such as Blessed Unrest’s LYING – the type of performance that makes you walk away a bit confused, but feeling like you just saw something great.
The story follows the shaky adolescence of Lauren, an epileptic and a liar whose illness may, or may not, cause her to blur the truth. The play is set in the 1980’s and is about Lauren’s relationship with an unstable and unemotional mother and her own fears of not becoming the woman she hopes to be. Touches of music (think Madonna’s greatest hits) and dance numbers were intertwined throughout the production creating a kitschy effect.
The acting was phenomenal and again, Lauren’s story struck a chord with me. However, the choreography was unpolished and the dance pieces at times were sloppy and unnecessary. With a few tweaks to the dance routines I feel like LYING has great potential to speak to a lot of people. CGV
Blessed Unrest, Theater for the Adventurous, 500 W 52nd Street
Tickets: $18 http://www.blessedunrest.org/ or 646-238-0829
Runs thru: November 3, 2014
Running time: 2 hours, including one intermission
