THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602200067
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: MONTAGUE GAMMON III
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Few shows will be found in Hampton Roads this year that are as well realized in every component of directing, acting, and design as the Old Dominion University production of Moliere's classic ``Tartuffe.''
The production is being billed as ``the 17th century play with the 1960s haircut.'' The Carnaby Street clothing, the beanbag chairs, the pop art and all the accoutrements sported by an upper class mod household some 30 years ago give a colorful framework for Moliere's great comedy of fraud and deception, but these ornaments never get in the way of the real play.
The title character is a pious sounding, impoverished drifter who professes great religious faith and an even greater interest in the conduct of others. He has won the trust of the rich Orgon and of Orgon's elderly mother, Madame Pernelle. He is Orgon's house guest, the beneficiary of Orgon's financial generosity, and is treated as his brother.
Everyone else in the household, from Orgon's wife to his children, servants, and in-laws sees Tartuffe for the hypocrite he is. Before they expose Tartuffe's dishonesty, Orgon has promised him his daughter in marriage and has made him heir to all of Orgon's riches.
This is more a play of text and portrait than of character development. Each person has his or her niche which changes little during the story. There is the saucy and clever servant girl, the innocent ingenue, the rational man, the hot-headed young son, the buffoon, and so forth.
What director Christopher Hanna has done most successfully is elicit clear, detailed pictures of each personality and precise maps of their emotional interactions, through careful, insightful readings of the verse dialogue.
That dialogue, in rhymed couplets, is hardly the stuff of day to day speech. Yet this cast without exception makes the verse sound as easy and natural as the most casual conversation, while maintaining the aura of nobility and distinction that the poetry carries.
The acting is fine throughout. Veteran Marty McGaw opens the show by showing everyone what it means to be a real pro, commanding the stage and giving a richly detailed, textured performance that sets the whole play's tone with her first speech.
James McDaniel 5th, who is as prolific as any actor in Tidewater, finds himself perfectly at home in the role of Orgon. He turns in an utterly relaxed, believable and controlled performance. His character is quite convincingly a reasonable man who is duped because he is himself trustworthy and hence unsuspicious of others.
Some of McDaniel's best scenes are those he shares with Ashley Roller, who plays the sharp-tongued ladies' maid Dorine. Roller's vivacity, and her ability virtually to define the term saucy, make her character especially enjoyable.
There are some tonal similarities between Roller's portrayal and the character that Courtney Morse draws as Elmire, Orgon's wife. For the flippant disregard for convention that Dorine flaunts, Elmire substitutes a noble aloofness, an ability to rise above petty concerns while reserving the right and ability to make her opinions and displeasure devastingly clear. Regal is not too strong a term for the image she presents.
Jim Turner could not be more convincing, or more natural and unforced, in the title role. He even comes close to taking in the audience with his act of religious fervor and asceticism, though the audience has been forewarned that he's a faker.
David Hart is funny, without being clownish, as the dutiful and conformist son Damis who would rather act than think. Bruce Amedick is similarly clear and convincing as the voice of reason and good sense. His scene with Tartuffe at the beginning of Act 2 is a gem of precision and carefully timed interplay for both actors.
Gretchen Kenny and Edwin Castillo do well in the roles of the young lovers whose plans are threatened by Tartuffe. Connie Hanna has a brief appearance as a sleepy servant girl, while Jim Pitchford and Joe George are effective in their short times on the stage as the play ends.
The colorful scenic and costume designs of Konrad Winters and Keriann Yohler are nothing short of splendid. by CNB