Preview 'The Art of Lying'
- Iggy Planas
- Jan 21, 2023
- 3 min read
Last Friday the 20th of January we previewed 'The Art of Lying' (El Arte de Mentir) in CC. Drassanes' assembly hall at 19:30h. This preview as an opened rehearsal served as a starting point of the project where I've been working at during this last months, a theatrical adaptation of the article 'The Decay of Lying' by Oscar Wilde, a proof in front of an audience that I hope works as the beginning of the path of this project in other spaces and theatres.
What is 'The Art of Lying' about?
Inside a bourgeois house's library in Victorian England, two intellectual friends, Vivian and Cyril, argue about the content of a peculiar article written by the first one. A text that expressed the fundamental role of the lie as a source and basis of artistic creation.
Through this article read by Vivian and the innumerable questions with which Cyril will bother him, we will walk through the winding paths and twists and turns of the ideas that Wilde expressed in his art and lifestyle which, according to the words of the dandy himself: «tried to be an imitation of art.»
Yesterday's play was a discrete and intimate preview, of around 30 people, where we were able to put on stage the result of last month's rehearsals. It's been a long process, this project was started by Alejandro Oya (the other actor) and me in the beginning of 2020 with lots of wishes and respect for the original source. Pandemics and delays apart, it's been a very artisanal creation where, besides performing, we also developed the rest of the roles in the production – Alejandro, with the text adaptation; I, Iggy, with the scene direction and both of us as executive producer. From what was seen in this preview it can be said that it's the result of more than one year and a half of work, with its stops and comes and goes, though it always kept its hope, and the original spark and sharpness of the text.
The reviews and reception by the audience were mixed, some positive aspects of the play were highlighted, and other aspects to improve were mentioned as well. Personally, I must admit that this was my return to the stage after almost two years without performing, and I felt some comfort that disappeared at some points. I think that's due to a lack of dissociating my director's role from the performing one, something that didn't help my character.
I want to thank each one of the people in the audience who came to watch the play of a never-performed text by Wilde for all their support and patience, also for their reviews after the play that we had taken into account to improve the play.
To Nacho Martí for his help as a light and sound technician, to Clàudia and Sara for all the photographic material that you can see throughout this post and that we hope to use for the play's dossier in the future.
Finally, I want to acknowledge Alejandro Oya, my partner in crime, for being by my side in this project and making me discover this text by Oscar Wilde in the beginning. A million thanks to you, mate, for all your patience and comprehension of my marks and, why not mention, for bearing my scoldings when directing you but, above all, for all the work on stage you did yesterday. Congratulations on meeting the expectations, I hope to keep you by my side in the future of this project!
The future of this play is yet uncertain and, for the time being, there is no intention of premiering it in some theatre or hall. We have to stop for a while, we hope it won't be long, and make some balance of the work we have done and make some changes in the text. Personally, I think that I will bring more to the project if I work exclusively as a director in it, so I think it's best to take one step aside and let my character (Cyril) be performed by some other actor, someone who we already foresaw to include into the project as a possible cover.
So then we will continue with the established plan and the change will be that I will take the cover role in exceptional occasions. Though now it's time to let the memories of the project rest, we will keep what was lived during the celebration after the preview, and we will take some months before retaking this project with some changes.
And without more news, this post comes to an end. I will keep you informed with more news in 'The Art of Lying' and, like always, see you in the next blog's post!
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