Centenary Stage to Present THE LIAR, 2/21-3/9

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and love is in the air at Centenary Stage Company, or some form of it anyway in this season's laugh-out-loud comedy The Liar by Pierre Corneille, adapted for modern audiences by David Ives. Running February 21st through March 9th at The Lackland Center, this story of mistaken identity and half-truths has delighted audiences and critics time and again. The Wall Street Journal says, "I laughed so hard that I was sore the next day...By wedding [Ives'] verbal prestidigitation to Corneille's mistaken-identity plot, Mr. Ives has come up with a play in which the laughs flow freely and joyously."

Dorante is a charming 17th century young man newly arrived in Paris, and he has but a single flaw: He cannot tell the truth. In quick succession he meets Cliton, a manservant who cannot tell a lie, and falls in love with Clarice, a charming young woman whom he unfortunately mistakes for her friend Lucrece. What the hero regrettably does not know is that Clarice is secretly engaged to his best friend Alcippe. Nor is he aware that his father is trying to get him married to Clarice, whom he thinks is Lucrece, who actually is in love with him. From all these misunderstandings and a series of breathtakingly intricate lies springs one of the Western world's greatest comedies, a sparkling urban romance as fresh as the day Pierre Corneille wrote it, brilliantly adapted for today by All in the Timing's David Ives. The Washington Post says, "The Liar and its mischievous adapter, David Ives, want you to savor every meticulously groomed conceit, every stylishly turned-out couplet, every assiduously manicured joke."

Directing this production is Centenary's own Carl Wallnau and Emmy Award-winning designer Bob Phillips has once again been chosen to beautify the stage of the Sitnik Theatre with his stunning and life-like set designs.

Tickets for The Liar range from $25 to $27.50 with discounts for students and seniors. Every Thursday night is "Family Night," which offers a 2-for-1 rush ticket price when purchased at the door. Performance times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. There are 2 p.m. matinées on Wednesdays February 26th and March 5th and for the Preview Performance on Friday, February 21st. The Liar is sponsored by Bea McNally's Irish Pub and Heath Village Retirement Community.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.centenarystageco.org<http://www.centenarystageco.org/>, at the CSC Box Office located in the David and Carol Lackland Center at 715 Grand Ave in Hackettstown, or by calling 908-979-0900. The Box Office is open 1-5 PM Monday through Friday, and 2 hours prior to performance times. CSC also operates a second Box Office during the season at 217 Main Street in Hackettstown open Monday through Friday 3-6 p.m.

The 2013-14 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, and CSC sponsors, including Premier Sponsor Heath Village Retirement Community, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, The Holiday Inn in Budd Lake, and Fulton Bank, Bronze Sponsors The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and Wells Fargo Bank, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.

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