This July, Greenbrier Valley Theatre in downtown Lewisburg, the state professional theatre of West Virginia, proudly presents The School for Lies. Rated R, this wild farce matches wit with humor in the story of one woman and her troubles with love, told hilariously through rhyme. The widow Célimène runs the most fashionable salon in 1666 France and is the most desired woman in the city. Suddenly a stranger arrives who will turn her life upside down and teach her how to live again. A saucy, hilarious updating of Molière’s Le Misanthrope. The audience will be in stitches during this saucy comedy, and the costumes are guaranteed to captivate theatre-goers through their use of historical, colorful frivolity, all designed in-house by resident costume designer Jenna Fawn Brown.

A student of historical clothing, Jenna Fawn is beyond excited to design and showcase the costumes for this performance. Her costume designs use opulent barococo style to tell the visual tale of Célimène, the stylish widow, and her inner circle who populate the most fashionable salon in Paris.

Fawn says, “The Age of Enlightenment was also the age of ridiculous society, and this play sets out to show how society’s rules are.”

David Ives’ adaptation of Molière’s Le Misanthrope is as much of a spoof of Molière’s play as it is a by-the-book adaptation, and the way Ives plays fast and loose with historical accuracy (for instance, there is a reference to flip-flops in the play) allows Jenna Fawn the leeway to play with the costuming outside of 1666.

See Hashtag Lewisburg’s July agenda for showtimes and dates. Tickets are $30 for general admission, $27 for seniors and $20 for students. For tickets or more information, call GVT’s Box Office at 304-645-3838 or visit gvtheatre.org.

– HashtagWV #103. July 2018