(Posted October 25, 2004)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It's a tall order to take on Tartuffe, even if it's presented using Richard Wilbur's incomparable English translation of Moliere's comedy-in-verse.

ACT I largely fills that order, although uneven acting keeps director Marc Mazzone's inventive production from being an unqualified success.

Moliere's tale of religious hypocrisy versus virtue has been moved from the 1660s to the 1920s by Mazzone. It's still the story that first scandalized the France of Louis XIV's reign and has delighted audiences the world over since, though, involving Orgon, a wealthy man who takes the wily con artist Tartuffe into his home.

Tartuffe appears to be an extremely pious man, and Orgon believes he's saintly. He even plans to force his daughter Mariane to break off her engagement to her lover, Valere, so that Tartuffe can marry her and become part of Orgon's family. All of Orgon's servants, friends, and family, except for his mother, regard Tartuffe as a hypocrite who does not practice what he preaches. Will Orgon discover the truth in time to save himself from ruin?

Mazzone has started well by using Wilbur's award-winning translation, which was first utilized onstage in 1965 at Lincoln Center. There have certainly been other translations of Moliere's masterpiece that have delighted contemporary English-speaking audiences, including a recent critically-acclaimed version by Timothy Mooney, but Wilbur's is unsurpassed for the sheer joy it exudes and the directness with which it engages modern audiences.

In the show's program, Mazzone writes that he set Tartuffe in the 1920s not "to make Moliere more 'relevant,' which would be foolish and presumptuous, but rather to emphasize the timelessness of this story..." In this desire he has succeeded, bolstered by a black-and-white art deco-inspired set design by Jim Manning. Pat Rulon and Deanna Glasser have further aided Mazzone's vision by decking the actors out in costumes that clearly recall Jazz Age fashions.

There are also some good performances among the ensemble. Jack Chambers has a difficult job in the title role. He must not be so obvious a charlatan that Orgon comes off as nothing more than a boring, one-dimensional fool, but he must be obvious enough that we believe those around Orgon would have detected his duplicity. He pulls it off with a coolness and calculation worthy of a supremely confident con man.

John Devine's Orgon is a man whose initially assured veneer becomes comically unraveled as the play progresses. We see his world turned upside down, and while it's partly his own fault for turning such a blind eye and deaf ear to what's really going on around him, we still end up rooting for him after having some laughs at his expense.

Mariane's witty and wily maid, Dorine, is played with mischievous glee by Valerie Meek. She initiates many of the sparks that fly through the story, and does so with a vitality that is often lacking in modern productions of classic works.

The same cannot be said for David Bayer's performance as Cleante, Orgon's brother-in-law, or Michael Brooks as Valere. Both often deliver Wilbur's translation as if they were reading ingredients on a cereal box instead of seeking to reveal their characters' thoughts. That's especially unfortunate in Bayer's case, as his role represents the virtuous opposition to Tartuffe's shameless skullduggery.

Lauren Atkins' portrayal of Elmire, Orgon's wife, has its good moments, particularly when she's pretending to woo Tartuffe to show her husband his guest's true nature. But she drops out of other moments, even stifling a laugh during one scene where Mariane begs her father to let her marry Valere instead of Tartuffe. It's hard to believe that would be her character's natural reaction to her daughter-in-law's dire situation.

Uneven acting keeps ACT I's Tartuffe from being a resounding triumph, but Mazzone and his collaborators have still crafted a production worth seeing. They've taken on a challenging classic, and largely made it their own, without losing Moliere's mirth or magnanimity.

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