Kinetic Theatre Staging ‘The Liar’; ‘Church Basement Ladies: A Second Helping’ (Thurs., 713/17)

1) Playwright David Ives is best known for his Venus in Fur, the sizzling seriocomedy about sex and power that was staged in Pittsburgh last year. Now it’s time for more Ives. Kinetic Theatre—one of the city’s really good small companies—is performing The Liar, a farcical comedy about sex, lies, and more lies. Ives adapted The Liar from a 1644 play of the same title by the French dramatist Pierre Corneille. The new version keeps the setting in Paris during the 1600s and generally follows the original plot, concerning a young man who cannot tell the truth: he lies to impress women; he lies to cover up previous lies; he lies for no purpose just because it’s his nature. What Ives has done is trim and tweak a near-forgotten work of French humor while putting it into modern English, which he writes with a wit that few can match. Ives’ The Liar premiered in 2010 in the capital of alternative facts, Washington, D.C. Recent revivals have drawn raves nationwide and Kinetic is presenting it in the Henry Heymann Theatre at the Stephen Foster Memorial. 8 p.m. Continues Through July 30. 4301 Forbes Ave., Oakland. (MV)

2) The Church Basement Ladies Sequel: A Second Helping is the follow-up to the successful first play in the series. The musical comedies were based on the book Growing Up Lutheran, by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson which takes a comical look at their 1950s, Midwestern, Lutheran upbringing. The books follow several multi-generational female characters who work in the Church basement preparing food for various events held at the church. The women have fun discussing their problems and  commenting on issues of the day. A Second Helping by Jim Stowell, Jessica Zuehlke, and Drew Jansen, is set in 1965 as people are protesting the Vietnam War and women are demanding equal pay. If you’re a fan of the series Mountain Playhouse is staging another of the sequels, The Last Potluck Supper, this month as well. 7:30 p.m. Performances through July 15. South Park Theatre, Corner of Brownsville Road and Corrigan Drive, South Park.

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