We're all intimately familiar with the sort of boorish character that lets every insulting thought that passes through his mind fly out at inappropriate times, only to have him fall back on the supposedly exonerating excuse that he was "just being honest." Is it better to be truthful to the point of alienation than to hang on to your friends by being duplicitous? Is it possible to rise through the ranks of high society and be honest at the same time?

These questions are raised frequently and fervently by The School for Lies, a motormouthed farce based on Moliere's comedy of manners, The Misanthrope, staged by Tacoma nonprofit theater Working Class Theater Northwest. The play explores the hypocrisies of both casual liars and the righteously honest - a selfish lot, both parties, using the ills of society as a way to justify their bad behaviors

Read Rev. Adam mcKinney's full review of The School for Lies in the Music & Culture section.

THE SCHOOL FOR LIES, 8 p.m., Thursday-Sunday, through Sept. 27, Working Class Theater Northwest, 733 Commerce, Tacoma, $10-$12 at brownpapertickets.com or door, workingclasstheaternw.blogspot.com