Chapel Hill’s 2014-15 theater season comes to an end this week as PlayMakers Repertory Company and Deep Dish Theater Company open their last shows.

At Deep Dish in University Mall, the last show of 2014-15 is “The Liar,” a classic French farce by Pierre Corneille translaptated by David Ives. (“Translaptated”? Master-of-wordplay Ives uses that word to describe his process – halfway between “translation” and “adaptation.”) Directed by Deep Dish artistic director Paul Frellick, “Liar” is about a French nobleman who’s a pathological liar, his pathologically honest servant, and the trouble they inevitably land themselves into. Deep Dish theatergoers will be familiar with Ives’ work: he’s the author (or translaptator) of two other plays previously staged by Deep Dish, “Polish Joke” and “Is He Dead?”.

Paul Frellick and actress Maryanne Henderson discuss “The Liar” with WCHL’s Aaron Keck.

 

For Deep Dish, “The Liar” marks not just the end of the season, but also the beginning of a transition: the theater company has been located at University Mall since its creation, but with changes ongoing at the mall, Frellick and the rest of the company are planning a move sometime around the end of 2015 (to a still-undetermined location). Frellick says the company will begin its 2015-16 season at its usual spot, though.

Meanwhile at PlayMakers Repertory Company, visiting director Cody Nickell brings “Mary’s Wedding” to the stage as part of the theater’s PRC2 series. “Mary’s Wedding” is an intimate play (two actors, three characters) by Stephen Massicotte – a “dream play” about young love in the midst of World War I. (This run of “Wedding” is part of UNC’s year-long commemoration of the 100th anniversary of WWI.) Nickell, a Chapel Hill native, has a close connection to the material: he played the male character Charlie in San Jose more than a decade ago, and he says the production brought him closer to his father – who flew from North Carolina all the way to San Jose, not once but twice, just to see it.

Cody Nickell spoke with Aaron Keck about “Mary’s Wedding.”

 

“The Liar” runs at Deep Dish from May 1-23; “Mary’s Wedding” runs at PlayMakers’ Kenan Theater from April 29-May 3.

Click here for tickets and other information about “The Liar.”

Click here for tickets and other information about “Mary’s Wedding.”

Pictured: Carey Cox. Photo by Andrea Akin.

Pictured: Carey Cox. Photo by Andrea Akin.