Theatre Review: The Lie At Menier Chocolate Factory

The Lie, Menier Chocolate Factory ★★★☆☆

By Stuart Black Last edited 84 months ago

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Last Updated 16 October 2017

Theatre Review: The Lie At Menier Chocolate Factory The Lie, Menier Chocolate Factory 3
Photo: Manuel Harlan

The Lie is a frisky soufflé of a play from acclaimed French writer Florian Zeller. It's a mirror-image companion piece to his recent hit The Truth, both plays presenting the ridiculous relationship troubles of a quartet of bourgeois Parisians as Gordian knots for the audience to untangle.

This time round the focus is on Alice and Paul, played by real-life couple Samantha Bond and Alexander Hanson, who spar wonderfully as they try to extract confessions from each other while obsfucating their own bad behaviour. Director Lindsay Posner keeps the 90 minutes swift and salty. And it is good fun – though honestly, if you've already seen The Truth, you may well be left wondering quite why Zeller felt the need to write the same play twice.

The Lie, Menier Chocolate Factory, 53 Southwark Street,  SE1 1RU. Tickets from £32.50, until 18 November 2017