JS Online: Superb 'Tartuffe' ends in = giddiness

From: Subject: JS Online: Superb 'Tartuffe' ends in giddiness Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:24:00 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0005_01C785ED.B5B0BA70" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0005_01C785ED.B5B0BA70 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=588037&format=print =EF=BB=BF JS Online: Superb 'Tartuffe' ends in = giddiness

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Superb 'Tartuffe' ends in giddiness

Over-the-top comedy blurs impressive delivery as Milwaukee Rep ends = season=20 with age-old classic

By DAMIEN JAQUES
Journal Sentinel theater critic

Posted: April 7, 2007

School is nearly out for the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and maybe = that=20 explains the new production of "Tartuffe" the company opened Friday = night.=20 Moliere's 343-year-old classic is the final play the Rep is offering in = what has=20 been an outstanding season in the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater.

Perhaps that is the reason for a rising wave of giddiness that sweeps = over=20 the comedy in the second act. There is no denying that the flamboyant = physical=20 shtick employed by director Joseph Hanreddy and enacted by his Tartuffe, = Lee=20 Ernst, is audience-pleasing. The gifted actor may not be called upon to = suck a=20 beautiful woman's toes on stage very often, but he knows how to get a = laugh=20 doing it.

The puzzle here is why a smart theater company that does not pander = for=20 laughter blurs the focus of an otherwise superb production with wildly=20 over-the-top comic business late in the show. The audience goes home = giggling=20 about the principal character dropping his pants rather than savoring = Moliere's=20 timeless observation of human nature, Richard Wilbur's clever = translation in=20 rhyming couplets and the many other marvelous performances that share = the stage=20 with Ernst's.

There are two sides of the "Tartuffe" coin. The title character's = successful=20 manipulation of some people with his extravagant displays of public = piety=20 resonates remarkably well with our times. Most productions emphasize = that.

But the comedy also observes the human craving to believe in = something beyond=20 material abundance. We can find amusement in the gullibility of the = wealthy=20 Orgon, the head of an upper-class French household, and his mother in = their=20 unquestioning devotion to a con man, Tartuffe. However, the impulse that = drives=20 them to such bad judgment is likely to surface in all of us at some = point in our=20 lives.

Ernst's vivid portrayal of Tartuffe progresses from reptilian to=20 quasi-maniacal, pushing us to the conclusion that this Orgon has strong = inner=20 needs impelling him to irrationally follow the charlatan. That is = further=20 supported by the obstinate vigor Peter Silbert brings to his Orgon.

Elizabeth Ledo delightfully dominates much of the first act with her = animated=20 portrait of Dorine, the sauciest of maids. Personifying the voice of = reason,=20 Dorine spearheads the opposition to the insidious influence that = Tartuffe=20 increasingly wields in the house. The diminutive actress screws up her = face and=20 sharpens her attitude in a delicious defiance of the boss that = ultimately=20 inspires others to resist.

The Rep cast, containing no weak links, is particularly impressive in = its=20 handling of the language. Although Wilbur's verse is wonderfully = entertaining,=20 it can induce a mechanical quality in the delivery of lines spoken by = even good=20 actors. There is not the slightest hint of that here.

Words are rolled on the tongue and relished with feeling. Lines = trigger=20 expression and emotion.

The play is gloriously alive coming out of these mouths. And the = comic=20 business, including the use of a giant rosary, is fresh and fun for = about=20 three-quarters of the show. Then this Tartuffe needs to tighten his = rapidly=20 loosening screws.

Event=20 details

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From the April 8, 2007 editions of the Milwaukee Journal = Sentinel=20
Have an opinion on this story? Write a = letter to the=20 editor or start an online=20 forum.

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Superb 'Tartuffe' ends in giddiness

Over-the-top comedy blurs impressive delivery as Milwaukee Rep ends = season=20 with age-old classic

By DAMIEN JAQUESJournal Sentinel theater critic

Posted: April 7, 2007

Event=20 details

By DAMIEN JAQUES
Journal Sentinel theater critic