The public is very often willing to make celebrities on the foundation of lies and then destroy those same celebrities because they aren’t the heroes we want them to be. Reality shows aren’t real, journalists embellish their stories, and Disney teenagers turn out to be teenagers and real people after all.

Of course, now we have ways of not only ferreting out lies, but of making them known much more quickly and widespread than ever before. In 1898, there was no Internet or television or even radio. Someone like Louis de Rougement could publish his amazing adventures and it would take time before the public could find out they weren’t true.

In Donald Marguilies’ play “Shipwrecked! An Entertainment – The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougement (as Told by Himself),” he suggests that perhaps there was more veracity to de Rougement’s story than the media at the time was willing to admit. His play is far more about the value of the entertainment de Rougement gave and leaves us wanting to side with the rapscallion who later went on to perform in a show called “The Greatest Liar on Earth.”

It helps that in the Ixion production, the role of de Rougemont is played by Rick Dethlefsen, a seasoned actor who embodies the adventurer, telling the story with the aid of Christine Fisk and Steve Ledyard who play all the other roles in the play, sharing parts male, female, and animal.

Dethlefsen charms the audience as he tells his tale, acting it out, assuring us that every word is true, even if later he admits that perhaps he got some of the details wrong. His voice and expression are filled with a sense of wonder, slipping into the tale with some foreshadowing, but never giving away what is to come. He connects directly with the audience, making eye contact in the intimate space of the AA Creative Corridor.

Fisk and Ledyard are playing roles that are an actor’s dream. They are impressive as they switch in and out of characters. Fisk in particular is able to jump from accent to accent, always finding new physicalities, new timbre in her voice, and varying expressions that make each character clearly different and unique. For each character she finds a different posture and way of moving and they are fully developed, even when they only have a few seconds of stage time.

Ledyard is particularly memorable as de Roguement’s faithful hound, finding ways to communicate through howls and barks that are constantly entertaining. Like Fisk, he finds ways to make each character unique and changing between them with a constant stream of headgear.

No one was credited with costuming, which is a shame because it is particularly well done, with de Rougement in a period suit and Ledyard and Fisk constantly changing into different outfit and pieces of costumes.

Director Sadonna Croff makes her debut with Ixion with a flair for the theatrical. She keeps this intermission-free show well paced and stages it well. None of the actors ever leave stage (except for a brief time when one gets swept away and then quickly returns through the back door). Croff makes this work well by having three main staging areas in the very small space of the AA Creative Corridor. There is the front stage right platform where most of the action takes place and then a stage left set of raised chairs for some later action to launch from. Then, behind both platforms, is a longer platform where all of the props and costume changes take place, an almost dugout for Fisk and Ledyard to return to when they are not needed.

Croff makes highly theatrical choices to change sets without ever causing a break in the action. There are nets, fabric changes, suitcases, and boxes that serve multiple functions to take the audience on this journey with the 19th century adventurer. From London to the Australian outback, the scenes change with barely a blink, assisted by Fisk, Ledyard, and the assistant director Nicole Clyne, and Croff.

There are some technical difficulties with the show. The sound effects are without amplification and sometimes so quiet that they sound more like the muffled noise of a cell phone ring than a stage effect meant to set the scene. They also all come from behind the audience, which somewhat breaks the suspension of disbelief rather than adding to the storytelling. Lighting is limited, but for a show like this, universal lighting is appropriate and effective.

“Shipwrecked!” is a show that is rarely done, but it succeeds in what its title tells you it is. It is an entertainment, and an entertainment that this ensemble does well.