{"id":7267,"date":"2018-05-29T06:35:09","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T10:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=7267"},"modified":"2018-06-16T20:10:23","modified_gmt":"2018-06-17T00:10:23","slug":"tartuffe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=7267","title":{"rendered":"Tartuffe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tartuffe\"

photo: JerryDalia<\/p><\/div>\n

A theatrical work maintains its ability to delight audiences for more than 350 years for one reason: continued relevance. Such is the case with Moli\u00e8re\u2019s comic masterpiece Tartuffe<\/em>, on stage at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey<\/a>. This sparkling production, directed by STNJ\u2019s artistic director, Bonnie J. Monte, opened May 19 and runs through June 10.<\/p>\n

In 1664, Tartuffe<\/em> so scandalized the powers-that-be with its take-down of religious hypocrisy and false piety that the right wing clergy banned it. After a few text changes and with French King Louis XIV\u2019s strong support, the ban was lifted five years later. In the current era, with #MeToo, families rent by political divisions, and the difference between truth and lies increasingly contentious, Tartuffe<\/em> hits home once again.<\/p>\n

A 2018 audience responds with fresh outrage to a situation in which a woman is threatened with rape, but the man accusing her attacker is disbelieved\u2014\u201cNow you know what it\u2019s like not to be believed,\u201d says a female character. Today\u2019s audience likewise has a robust appreciation for the wiles of con man and dissembler Tartuffe (played by Brent Harris), his credulous and all-too-willing victim, Orgon (Patrick Toon), and the frustrated household members who cannot convince him of the deception.<\/p>\n

That household includes Orgon\u2019s wife Elmire (Caroline Kinsolving), daughter (Sarah Nicole Deaver), son (Aaron McDaniel), Elmire\u2019s brother (William Sturdivant), and the saucy maid Dorine (Victoria Mack). Only Orgon and his mother (Vivian Reed) side with Tartuffe against the family.<\/p>\n

Orgon took the pious Tartuffe in when he was a beggar, installed him in his home, and moves him closer and closer to the center of family life. His next plan is to rescind permission for his daughter to marry her love and instead wed her to the odious Tartuffe. Several scenes take place in which Tartuffe\u2019s unwelcome intrusions are thoroughly discussed before we see the man himself. When he does appear, Brent Harris does not disappoint. He is so-o-o-oo smarmy, wearing a long white-blonde wig as pallid as his pieties.<\/p>\n

The entire cast is strong, especially Toon and Kinsolving, the delectable Deaver (she has a great scene with her fianc\u00e9, played by Mark Hawkins), and Mack and McDaniel\u2019s lively physical comedy. Reed lends an unexpected, preacherly African-American cadence that works admirably with the verse. (The translation is by Pulitzer Prize-winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate, the late Richard Wilbur).While some of the speeches tend to be long, the production is so full of movement and wit that it never flags.<\/p>\n

Brittany Vasta\u2019s elegant set is perfect for quick entrances, dramatic exits, and closet-hiding, and the mouth-watering costumes are by Nikki Delhomme.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey productions are hosted at Drew University in Madison, N.J. (easily reachable from NYC by train). For tickets, call the box office at 973-408-5600 or visit http:\/\/www.shakespearenj.org<\/a>. Note that STNJ offers special ticket pricing of $30 for theatergoers under age 30!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A theatrical work maintains its ability to delight audiences for more than 350 years for one reason: continued relevance. Such is the case with Moli\u00e8re\u2019s comic masterpiece Tartuffe, on stage at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. This sparkling production, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Tartuffe - a lively, witty production of this masterpiece, which has never seemed more relevant!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[272,104,147],"tags":[1087,553,1317],"class_list":["post-7267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comedy","category-the-morgue","category-theater","tag-moliere","tag-shakespeare-theatre-of-new-jersey","tag-tartuffe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s2NkiT-tartuffe","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7270,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7267\/revisions\/7270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}