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From left, Laira Magnusson is Elmire, Scott Bryan is Tartuffe and George Williams is Orgon in “Tartuffe” at the Adobe Theater. (Courtesy of George Williams)
Molière’s classic comedy of hypocrisy “Tartuffe,” will open at the Adobe Theater on Friday, April 5. Director Micah Linford sees important parallels between the pious fraud of the title and other characters, real and fictional, in every era. (Think of Jim Baker or Elmer Gantry.) He has set this production in 1930′s United States with reference to the Great Depression.
Orgon (George Williams), the father of a large household, has been taken in by the seemingly holy man Tartuffe (Scott Bryan), and adores him absurdly. He ignores the advice of his wife, Elmire (Laira Magnusson), and her brother, Cleante (Adobe regular Alan Hudson), to the extent of foolishly willing his fortune to the fraud.
Other characters include the witty maid, Dorine (Laurie McFarland); Orgon’s daughter, Mariane (Katie Mitchell); her suitor, Valere (Bryan Chapman); Orgon’s son, Damis (Quinn Rol); Orgon’s mother, Madame Pernelle (Patricia Thompson, who most recently performed in “Pride and Prejudice”); and the bailiff, M. Loyal (Nicholas Jon Ganjei).
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If you go WHAT: “Tartuffe” WHEN: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, April 5-28 WHERE: The Adobe Theater, 9813 Fourth NW HOW MUCH: Tickets are $15, seniors and students $13. Group sales and SelecTickets available. For reservations call 898-9222 weekdays or order online at www.adobetheater.org |
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All of them see through Tartuffe, who also hopes to marry Mariane and even tries to seduce his benefactor’s wife.
The play was originally produced at Versailles in 1664 and immediately censored by Louis XIV and the French Catholic Church. It has been performed over the centuries in various forms and settings, including a film by Gerard Depardieu and a successful opera by Kirke Mechem.
The verse translation by poet Richard Wilbur captures the quality of the original. Audiences will see why the name Tartuffe has become a synonym for a lecherous swindler.
