Tartuffe triumphs with lies and deceit

By Maggie Sulc     11/8/12 6:00pm

Tartuffe illustrates why Rice University benefits from having a theater department with the ability to combine student talent with experienced professionals to bring a classic piece of theater onto Rice's campus. In the mix of this semester's many other comedic pieces, Moliere's Tartuffe stands out in bringing audiences a satire from the time of France's Sun King that still elicits tittering giggles, chuckles and guffaws from today's audiences.

At the center of the play is Tartuffe, played by Duncan College sophomore Jake LaViola, a hypocritical beggar who feigns piety in order to worm his way into the household of Orgon, a French aristocrat (Jones College sophomore Qingyang Peng). First duping Orgon and his mother, Madame Pernelle (Alice Rhoades), Tartuffe then attempts to seduce the lady of the house, Elmire (Jones junior Hayley Jones), secure the hand of Orgon's daughter Mariane (Duncan junior Tasneem Islam) and eventually steal the entirety of Orgon's estate from his rightful son and heir Damis (Jones freshman John Hagele). The rest of the household bands together to oust the greedy, pious imposter and reveal the truth to Orgon.

From the first scene of the play, the technical components in this show shine. The stage, a somewhat stretched and tilted perspective of a drawing room, sets the scene with its soft lighting and bright blue-and-yellow walls. The wardrobe and other set pieces hint at the high-class, ridiculous escapades which will take over the space. When the characters enter, each of the costumes is a work of art with wide bustles and hilarious, elaborate hairpieces from the historical period. Everything comes together to support and create a whimsical environment in which the characters can run, dance, lie and cheat in front of the audience's eyes.

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Most of the cast turns Moliere's verses of rhyming couplets into enchanting daggers to throw at the other characters, uncovering their sins and hypocritical natures. When delivered with the right variation, the dialogue paints a vivid picture of the household that leaves audience members rocking with laughter even after they leave Hamman Hall. Jones junior Susannah Eig as Dorine, the maid, pokes fun at everyone and defies her station to add her wise scheming into every conflict. Even while sweeping in the background, her biting comments draw attention away from Orgon, the blustering, true master of the house. The lovers, Mariane and Valere (Baker College junior Travis Hoyt), play up their quarrel well, pairing haughty lines with melodrama. LaViola's charming, yet constantly changing voice illustrates how a man such as Tartuffe could so enchant Orgon and Madame Pernelle, blinding them to the truths spouted by every other relative and trusted adviser. Short glimpses of his true, devious emotions emerge at just the right moments to let the audience in on the gag in his world of deceit.

Unfortunately, there are a few weaker characters that do not hold up under Moliere's vocal and comedic demands. The furrowed brow and sourpuss expression of Hagele's Damis blurts out the lines, running through the couplets' rhythms. As Orgon, Peng tries earnestly to embody the authority and righteous anger of the master of the house, but the language seemed to run away from him. The quick clip of the rhymes slows whenever he enters the scene. Without a corresponding change in his demeanor after the concrete proof of Tartuffe's sinful lust for Orgon's wife, it is difficult to tell whether the man actually grasps the villain's true nature. Then again, all of his pathetic attempts to reign in Dorine's meddling and continued devotion to Tartuffe's "poor fellow" do make it a painful situation to endure, which is what it must be for the family members to watch. If Peng's Orgon is meant to look silly as he tries to take control of his family, that is how it comes across in the production.

In the midst of the current state of the nation and the political bickering that goes on during every stage of history, Tartuffe reminds audiences that everyone looks like a hypocrite or buffoon from time to time. The Rice Theater Department's clean and witty production is not a burdened old piece, but a witty set of escapades in the

decadent past.

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