The Truth – Q&A with Rachel Pearson and Adrian McDougall
Wokingham Theatre kicks off 2025 with The Truth, a modern comedy drama about two couples where infidelity runs rife and we are never quite sure what is truth and what are lies.
The original play was written in French by Florian Zeller – who also wrote The Father – with this translation provided by Christopher Hampton – who wrote the play adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses – both of which WT put on in 2022. So we know we are in safe hands with this latest offering.
We sat down with Director Rachel Pearson (RP) and cast member Adrian McDougall (AM) to hear what audiences can expect from the first play of the new year.
Without giving too much away, what is the play about?
RP: It’s set in modern day Paris and centres around Michel, who is married to Laurence but having an affair with Alice, the wife of his friend of 20 plus years, Paul. Over the course of seven scenes, the play plots the journey of Michel who rather hilariously attempts to keep control over his life as things go out of control, mostly due to his own doing and his own narcissism and inability to see things for what they are.
It’s called The Truth, but really it’s more about lying and whether or not characters are better or worse at it. Although the audience is pretty sure whether Michel is telling a truth or lie, with the other three characters, we are never quite sure.
What sort of style is the play?
RP: It’s a comedy drama. It’s quite farcical in places, but it’s not a farce, these are truthful characters. It’s Michel’s complete ineptness to see things as they really are that gets him into these farcical situations. And it’s very funny, seeing his attitude towards his relationships with the other three characters.
Adrian, your character is in every scene, at the centre of every relationship within the play, who has to juggle all the different dynamics, what’s that like to play?
AM: He always answers a question with a question, like he’s giving himself thinking time. He’s almost always flowering things up, making up stories, finding a way around things, checking that what a person is saying to him is what he’s expecting them to say. So he gives himself a few seconds to work out what he has to say, which is how it’s written. So you have this character who thinks he’s a player and totally in control, but spends his entire life double-checking stuff and trying not to give things away.
RP: I find it so interesting that these characters have all stuck by him for 20 or so years! They all put up with him, it’s hilarious, how they all stick with him, despite how dastardly he is.
AM: Yes, there’s very little redeeming about him. You see this really brittle, egotistical individual who is desperately trying to be the big I Am, but he’s deluded because he’s never really in control. It’s a lovely play and an amazing character, who I feel very lucky to play. Each scene reveals something else, so audiences may think they’ve got it then the next scene reveals another twist, so it’s a lot of fun. I think if we do it right, the audiences will love it and just have an absolute ball and leave chatting to each other saying, “what the heck just happened?!”
What makes the play so funny?
AM: It’s the awkwardness of scenes, these excruciating situations this guy gets himself into. The things he says and the lies he tells. It’s an interesting mix of comedy and farce, but with this real heart to it. The play has a moral backbone, which I really like.
RP: It’s so precisely written as well, very sparing in its language. You can’t be paraphrasing because the humour is in every pause, every dot dot dot. It’s been likened to Pinter’s The Betrayal, another relationship drama where language is so precise, which just makes it so funny. And you can hear the Frenchness in the language, despite the fact it’s been translated.
AM: Michel has shades of Basil Fawlty, shades of Ross from Friends. He’s quite smart, but so unaware of how emotionally stunted he is.
RP: These are middle-class, well-heeled Parisians with professional careers with jobs like doctors and directors. And yet, despite being smart people, their private lives are just not so smart.
Tell me more about the notion of truth and lies within the play.
RP: When Michel lies, if the audience don’t laugh, they’ll gasp with incredulity at how outrageously he lies. He’s in every scene, we get to know him and see how he interacts. Whereas what’s really interesting is we never see the other characters interact with each other, so we’re never really sure if what they’re saying to Michel – and therefore to us – is really the truth or they’re just messing him around. They’re very much not victims of his lies.
AM: And that’s the joy of the play, it turns things on its head, subverts what you expect to get from characters who we know are being lied to. I think it’s quite satisfying for an audience to see that dynamic on stage.
RP: And it’s not like whether or not his lies are a debate. There’s no question mark around what he’s saying. It’s more about the nature of lying and why we feel the need to lie. There’s a wonderful speech Michel has where he claims civilisation would collapse in its entirety if everyone started to tell each other the truth.
AM: I think for him, he thinks he’s protecting people by lying, like it comes from a good place, deep down.
What have rehearsals been like?
RP: Very strange in the early weeks, because all the scenes are duologues, so Adrian was at every rehearsal but the others didn’t see each other! Then as we started running it, it has all come together and you get that ensemble feeling.
A: For me, it’s a bit of a rollercoaster, the second half particularly rockets along, as things unravel, it starts to ramp up. There are a few points where he goes off on one, slightly loses it with people, I find that a lot of fun; as the stakes get higher the energy ramps up.
RP: My favourite moment is always laughing through rehearsals, finding the funny. You suddenly see these characters come to life, playing and interacting. That’s where the joy comes, when you can see how it will all come together. It’s just been a lot of fun with a great company, on and off stage.
What can audiences expect in terms of the technical sides of the production?
RP: We’re a small cast with only four people, in fact there’s more people backstage than there are onstage! The play occurs over seven scenes in five different locations, but we didn’t just want to do a black box set, we wanted to make it more entertaining. So we have this very clever, interactive design for our set and lighting. Then we have great music in between scenes that reflect Michel’s latest predicament to give the audience a beat to reflect on what’s happened. I think audiences are in for a very entertaining evening.
How do you hope audiences feel watching this play?
RP: I hope they’ve had a really fun evening and laughed a lot. I think it’s one of those plays they’ll be talking a lot about in the bar afterwards! Who is lying? Who did what? Who knows what? It’ll get people talking!
AM: I remember reading this for the second time, and I was lying in bed trying not to wake up my wife because I wanted to laugh out loud at so many places. I hope the audience enjoys those laughs as well.
The Truth opens at Wokingham Theatre on Thursday 23 January and runs until Saturday 1 February. There are still tickets available, which you can purchase here.
The cast is as follows:
Michel: Adrian McDougall
Paul: Chris Hillebrandt
Alice: Penny Dixon
Laurence: Emma Merchant