Perfect Mendacity with Next Act

It's the story of a man his wife and a memo. This would be pretty simple in and of itself. However, it is also the story of a man and his wife a memo and a lie detector. Next Act Theatre opens its season with the Milwaukee Premiere of Jason Wells' Perfect Mendacity. Mark Ulrich plays the gentleman in question. He is a scientist working on projects for the US government that are reprehensible. When a potentially dangerous memo gets leaked to the public, he suspects his wife. She's played by Marti Gobel.

At the prospect of losing his job and having his wife deported, (she's not native to this country) the man decides the best way out of it is to lie during the polygraph test he will be administered. And the only way to lie effectively against lie detector test is to hire an expert to teach him how. The expert is a charming guy played by Lee Palmer. Somewhere in the mix of everything, a colleague of the man is trying to help out in the only way he can. He's played by David Cecsarini. Will he be able to successfully pass the lie detector test? Why is the lie detector test being administered by a member of research and development as played by Eddie Marian? These questions and more get answered over the course of a thoroughly entertaining drama with plenty of very sophisticated comedy in it.

Aside from a few stray moments where Cecsarini is all alone on stage, Mark Ulrich and his character are on stage for pretty much the entire run of the play. Ulrich's ability to play a somewhat reprehensible character who is nonetheless charming and fun to hang out with over the course of a play was tout to good use a little while ago in Next Act's Vigil. Here the comedy is toned down considerably, giving Ulrich more of a challenge. And though the character is difficult to like, Ulrich renders a really interesting personality onstage here.  

This ability to be both charming and morally reprehensible at the same time is particularly important here. The reason for this has a lot to do with the fact that the character could almost be seen to be somewhat allegorical of United States as a whole. He has certain ideals. He has certain moral convictions to uphold. And because he likes to think of himself as a generally morally upstanding person, he prefers not to think about those aspects of things that he does which are at odds with his own moral code. He is a carving out a life for himself that is due in part to the misery of others. This is pretty much where we all are in America. We feel justified in exploiting people on the other side of the world because we know that we're being exploited as well. Obviously that doesn't justify it. And in a sense, Perfect Mendacity is about or could be seen as being about those lies we tell ourselves in order to feel comfortable with the fact that our lifestyles are built on the exploitation of others.

On the surface, it's all very simple. And the plot does play out quite fluidly in a way that's easy to understand. What's great about this is the fact that the playwright throws enough philosophically into the mix that if you choose to think about it further there's a lot to think about here. It's not a perfect allegory. It's not perfect straight-ahead drama either. But it's imperfections point out our own in a thoroughly engrossing story. Cecsarini has picked out a really good one here. 

Of course, the rest of the cast perform quite well. Particularly of note here is Marty Gobe as a woman who truly loves this deeply flawed man for what he might be. She seems to have nearly unlimited patience with him. She comes across as a very, very strong person at least in part because of her character's willingness to let the moment play out with out losing her temper entirely. 

 Of course, Cecsarini himself does a really good job with a character who seems almost oblivious to the entire concept of morality. It's a really interesting portrayal of somebody who comes across as a very nice guy but, only on the surface. He;s pleasant and friendly, but almost completely sociopathic. It's interesting to see Cecsarini work with someone like this. Palmer's polygraph expert is given some really good lines that are delivered with a clever kind of idiosyncrasy. 

And before I forget to mention it, the set which was designed by Rick Rasmussen is really beautiful.It has an artistry and a symmetry about it which would seem at odds with a place so firmly rooted in realism. The chair at the center of the stage with a massive biohazard symbol painted on the stage floor around it probably sounds a lot more overly dramatic that it actually is. As a striking a visual as it is, it still feels very natural. And that's quite an accomplishment on the part of Rasmussen.

I'm kind of disappointed with the ending, even though it's probably better than what I was expecting. When I was watching the play I was expecting it to end differently. Obviously, I don't want to give it away for those who still plan to see the play. Suffice it to say the way I was expecting it to end was much darker than it actually ended. And this is not to say that it was a big cheery ending either. This play has the kind of trial that one I hope we can achieve as a culture as the United States moves further and further into the 21st century.

Next Act Theatre's production of Perfect Mendacity runs through October 13th at Next Act's space on 255 South Water Street. For ticket reservations, call 414-278-0765 or visit Next Act online.