"DEAR LIAR", when first written, (or rather compiled and edited) created a form for playwriting which has been much emulated since. The form is one of straightforward narration of the events rather than a recreation of them.
The events in this case are the ones that accompanied the intense relationship between George Bernard Shaw and Stella Campbell (a famous actress of the time) and which found expression in “the hundreds of letters they wrote to one another over the years…” The play chronicles not only their deep mutual admiration and love (despite both of them being married, and not to each other!) but also that very significant era of history (1895 to 1939) which was witness not only to innumerable path breaking accomplishments in the theatre, but also to both the World Wars and the end of the Edwardian era, and with it, that particular way of life so dear to people like Mrs. Campbell. Mr. Shaw survived it all, long enough to even write about it but not Mrs. Campbell, who died in 1939, alone, broken and virtually penniless.
The play is self-explanatory, but a few words to explain the nature of the performance: the characters in the play are an Actor and an Actress who portray the two “protagonists”. The playwright specifically states that no attempt should be made to make physically resemble Shaw and Campbell, neither should there be a realistic setting. Since the play covers a time-span of almost 40 years and the action takes place in very many different locations, these people and places are not to be “re-created physically” but only “represented” The re-creation can take place in the audience’s mind.
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