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How He Lied to Her Husband (WWW.MASTERPLAYWRIGHTFEST.COM)

A one-act three-character comedy, How He Lied to Her Husband was written in just four days, the result of Shaw making the best of some rainy weather while vacationing in Scotland in 1905. Judging by the poor performances I witnessed on opening night, it appears Resonator Theatrical put a similar amount of time into rehearsing this production.

Before I pick this playlet apart, let me give you the deats on what should be a funny little Shaw story. Set in the sitting room of a London flat, How He Lied starts with Aurora, a 30 something South Kensington woman, stating her distress to Henry, a writer. See, Aurora has lost some love poems, poems that she’s mentioned in by name, poems that Henry wrote. She’s worried that the vanished verses will fall into the wrong hands, most specifically, her husband’s. I don’t think I need to tell you that the 'Shawit' is about to hit the fan.

Yes, hilarity should ensue, but it doesn’t because the acting is just awful. As Henry, Daniel Pop is dreadful. His delivery is flat, awkward and unnatural, like he merely memorized the words and never intended on actually speaking them. Adrianne Winfield (Aurora) and Dennis Sinclair (the husband) don’t fare much better, suffering from the same stage symptoms as Pop. Opening night nerves? Maybe. There’s time for improvement, but something tells me this trio of thespians isn’t quite up to it. Kudos to the cast for giving Shaw a shot, but taking on a master playwright is a tall order, especially for amateur actors, and methinks director Rob Brown put the wrong people on stage. But hey, it’s only 35 minutes long (even if it says 50 on the program), so as painful as the performance might be, it doesn’t last long.