The Southwestern College Theatre Department will present “The Liar” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, and Saturday, Feb. 24, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, in the Helen Graham Little Theatre on the lower level of the Christy Administration Building.    

Adjunct instructor Paula Makar is directing the show, which author David Ives set in Paris, 1643.  

“Dorante is a charming young man newly arrived in the capital, and he has but a single flaw: He cannot tell the truth,” Makar says.  “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 our hero regrettably does not know is that Clarice is secretly engaged to his best friend, Alcippe. He is also unaware that his father is trying to get him married to Clarice, whom he thinks is Lucrece, who actually is in love with him.” The cast includes:  Dorante, Ryan Pangracs; Cliton, Tanner Schartz; Clarisse, Scarlet Green; Lucrece, Jessica Burk; Alcippe, John Warring; Philiste, Shawn Knepper; Geronte, Benjamin Ekhoff; and  Sabine/Isabelle, Ondreya Seahorn.  

The crew includes: stage manager, Willow Branch; technical director, Kenny Allman; set design, Matthew Porter and Aidan Wells; costumes, Roxana Stitt; Props, Sylvia Xu; lighting design, Scott Olney; sound design, Benjamin Ekhoff; dramaturgy, Kaela Massey; and makeup design, students of the spring Make-Up for the Stage class. 

Ticket prices are $12 for adults, $6 for youth and area students with school ID, $10 for senior citizens, and free for all Southwestern faculty, staff, and students. Tickets can be reserved by calling (620) 221-7720, or emailing boxoffice@sckans.edu.  

Article by Charles Osen