The play may be almost 350 years old, but "Tartuffe" is as contemporary as this morning's news, and as a classic play, it receives a proper classic treatment at the hands of Deanna Jent and the Mustard Seed Theatre. The play continues through next weekend at the Fontbonne Theatre.
Using the brilliant, light-hearted translation by Richard Wilbur, which delivers in sparkling rhyming couplets, Moliere's satire about hypocritical religious fanatics who use their theologically honed rhetoric and the faith of other believers to steal and seduce is right out of current headlines. Tartuffe, played with all the necessary roguish charm by Gary Wayne Barker, pairs perfectly with J. Samuel Davis as Orgon, the wealthy merchant who rescues a down-and-out from the streets and starts falling deeper and deeper into the pit dug by his evil tongue.
Orgon's mother (an excellent Peggy Billo) is as charmed as he is, so the family fight matches those two against Orgon's wife (faithful and determined Kelley Ryan), their children, (Zoe Sullivan, lovely under a head covered with blonde ringlets, and Kareem Deanes, fierce of temper and intemperate of speech), Sullivan's mouthy maid (a perfect part for the glib, sarcastic Colleen Backer) and his brother-in-law (fine work from Michael Brightman). David Chandler and Sullivan portray the young lovers, and they look as if they just stepped out of a Watteau painting.
Tartuffe's greed and lust know few bounds. He convinces Orgon to end his daughter's betrothal and order her to marry him. At the same time, Tartuffe is busily attempting to seduce Orgon's wife. It's good, perhaps, to note that both objects of his desire are women, though one might worry about his servant, Laurent, played by Jackson Mabry,a fourth-grader who has no lines but who eats well.
Jent's direction is outstanding; the play is beautifully cast, and it's nice to see the talented Davis working more widely around town. Barker understands his characters better than most local actors, and Backer is bright and feisty, her eyes and brows as expressive as her voice. Dunsai Dai, a near-genius at designing sets in small spaces, has more room here, and it looks right, especially when filled with the actors in JC Krajicek's period costumes. There are many funny lines, equally as many that stab with their universality, and it's fascinating–and rather sad–to realize that after at least 346 years, men in power are still trashing their public values as they try avidly to exercise that power in the bedroom.
"Tartuffe" by the Mustard Seed Theater at Fontbonne University, through May 10
-Joe