Lying Kind: Untruthful Christmas in British style

Laughter, London and Christmas. Has Mr. Bean come to your mind? Believe me or not, he is not the only one who can make you grin. An excellent British comedy ‚The Lying Kind‘ hits Czech theaters again right in time before Christmas Eve. The play written by Anthony Neilson and staged by the Families Theatre Company is a great piece for spectators with a sense of dark humor.

It is December 24, carollers are singing and Christmas lights are shining brightly from every single window in snowy streets of London. The joyful time has come again. Not to everyone, though. Two policemen (starring Václav Kopta and Vojta Záveský) have to accomplish the last duty of the year – deliver sad news to an elderly couple (Jana Šulcová and Marcel Vašinka) about their daughter’s passing away.  They are facing a difficult choice. To tell the truth and possibly cause bereavement of two weak pensioners, or not to tell the truth and treat them with a few more light-hearted days.

Under the influence of Christmas atmosphere, they decide to lie mercifully. As the time goes by, they get more and more engaged in their lies. That leads to many comic situations where the couple of wretches make fools of themselves. To make things worse, more laughable characters appear in the story. Just to name a few of them – a suspicious mother from the neighborhood constantly chasing pedophiles (Vendulka Křížová) or a vicar who came to
offer his condolences to poor parents of the deceased. No British comedy can dispense with mistaken identities and ‚The Lying Kind‘ is no exception. Just wait until the very end…

The play has been garnering huge success. Even though the Czech and British sense of humor differ in many ways, spectators cannot help laughing. The drama offers a great opportunity to experience the British culture.  Personally, I saw the performance earlier this month in Kolín, however, the theatre company performs in other Czech cities until New Year´s Eve. If you want to capture the Christmas spirit, ‚The Lying Kind‘ is definitely worth seeing.

Text vznikl v rámci předmětu Angličtina pro žurnalisty pod vedením Mgr. Aleny Proškové.