The Lying Kind

by Anthony Neilson

A brand new comedy by the writer of the hit play Stitching, published to tie in with the Royal Court's Christmas production from November 2002



Constables Blunt and Gobbel have one last duty to fulfil before they can finish their Christmas eve shift; telling the old couple at No. 58 some terrible news. But what if the shock is too much for them? Blunt and Gobbel didn't join up in order to ruin people's lives. Maybe they'd be happier not knowing. And maybe it would all be much easier if the two constables weren't also stuck in the middle of a full-scale village lynch-mob.

Genres: Plays

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2002

About the author

Anthony Neilson (born 1967) is a Scottish playwright and director. He is known for his collabo rative way of writing and workshopping his plays. Much of his work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence.

Neilson has been cited as a key figure of In-yer-face theatre, a term used to characterise new plays with a confrontational style and sensibility that emerged in British theatre during the 1990s. He has been credited with coining the phrase "in-your-face theatre" but has rejected the label and instead describes his work as “'experiential' theatre”.

Reviews

[Vicent · Rating 5 out of 5]

No he rigut tant mai llegint una obra de teatre. No he tengut l'oportunitat de veure representada, però estic segur que després de sortir del teatre hauria hagut de canviar-me els calçotets. Ja sé que l'adjectiu genial està molt gastat, però aquesta obra se'l mereix.

[Charlie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good farce, perhaps a little too long. Very dark and funny. I think there are maybe too many reversals. One or two less and it would be perfect (for a farce). If your complaint is that it lacks depth, you probably shouldn't be reading farces in the first place.

Without giving away too much plot, it builds on the popular tropes in farce of mistaken identity and miscommunication. The two coppers make a horrendous job of their duties and the results are hilarious.