"While it feels like a throwback to Broadway comedies of the 1960s, this is a new play...Ms. Thomas gives an enjoyable, mildly touching performance as Alice...The rest of the cast is also fine...Good old-fashioned comfort food for theatergoers who prefer entertainment that caters to their long-established tastes, plays that offer a blend of comedy and sentiment, with maybe just a hint of a sting."
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"The whole affair plays out like an R-rated family sitcom, with hoary humor and a generic style—the handsome but hollow design elements do nothing to enhance these 2D characters. Toward the end, there's a jarring turn toward pathos, and though this is David Saint's third time directing the material, he's unable to smoothly navigate the improbable tone shift."
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"Not an ounce of this is believable, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be entertaining.a lot of the audience spent most of the play’s 90 minutes anticipating and roaring. As I sat there stone-faced, I could only conclude that this was because they found tickly what felt to me like the onset of eczema...It’s pro forma, not passionate, offering at best the pleasure of familiarity. Perhaps in sitcom-ish plays like this, the 'com' part of the word means 'comfy.'”
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"'Clever Little Lies' is nothing if not well-crafted...'Clever Little Lies' exists in that dreamscape of First World problems in which no issue is more pressing than the preservation of family under threat from a limber lover. It’s M&Ms, a guilty pleasure."
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"The scenario is rife with theatrical potential — both dramatic and comedic — but neither DiPietro's dialogue nor David Saint's direction lend the play any distinct theatricality. The stage seems to be more of a hurdle than a comfortable home for the play, whose evenly spaced quips and literal environment seem better suited for a sitcom than a staged production... The sense underlying the play is a world of sitcom where punch lines are a beat away and stakes don't truly exist. "
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"Likeable, but never uproarious as a comedy, the shift in tone is at first confusing and eventually a let-down, though Thomas and Mullavey play the piece with warmth, chemistry and dry playfulness. Merrick and Wetherhead are both fine in roles that are generally regulated to playing straight for the company's senior members. Director David Saint's production is slick and energetic but 'Clever Little Lies' can use more cleverness to keep the evening from just laying there."
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"It's all in the service of a distinctly rickety vehicle, a labored family-trauma piece that consistently settles for the laziest, easiest jokes until it takes on a totally unearned seriousness. DiPietro's play is filled with lies, but very, very few of them are clever."
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"DiPietro is so derivative of the form that he's innovated little and added nothing except time, which is the least useful commodity here...Only Thomas truly gets that 'Clever Little Lies' is disposable and forgettable and treats it accordingly...Thomas doesn't create lasting fireworks — but at least it's something."
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