Moliere's "Tartuffe," a 17th century comedy that explores hypocrisy and social dynamics, will open in the Hopkins Center tonight.
The drama, which will run through Sunday, will be the first student production in the newly renovated Moore Theatre. Drama professor Paul Gaffney is directing the play.
In spite of the play's name, "Orgon is generally considered the protagonist and Tartuffe is considered the antagonist," Chris Ferry '95, who plays Orgon in the classical drama, said.
"It is about a wealthy gentleman who takes a con-man into his home. Noone is fooled but Orgon and his mother," Amanda Jones '97 said. Jones will play Orgon's daughter, Marianne, in the comedy.
According to Nadia Bowers '95, who will play Orgon's wife, Elmire, "Orgon takes Tartuffe into his house because he is a semi-pious man. He thinks by taking him in he will save all our souls."
After giving Tartuffe the deed to his house and promising him his daughter's hand in marriage, Orgon realizes he is being duped.
Tartuffe's undoing occurs when he tries to seduce Bower's character, Elmire. "During a meeting when I try to ask him not to marry Marianne, he tries to seduce me. My hot-headed stepson tries to tell my father what happened, but Orgon still doesn't believe it. We set up this thing where Orgon is hiding ... and finally my husband sees that Tartuffe is very slimy," Bowers said.
"It is about hypocrisy and religion and society. It is about how we get what we want and how people interact," Ferry said.
"Orgon is getting toward middle-age and he is beginning to feel impotent with his life. He feels he is losing control. In losing perspective he causes a lot of problems," he said.
Ferry added that though the play has serious themes, it is certainly a comedy. "It has a happy ending," Ferry said.
"In the context of the 20th century, I think the comedy comes from a lot of sexual innuendo," Bowers said.
"Moliere was an excellent comic writer. He puts a lot of puns in. I would say that eighty percent of what makes it so funny is the comedy bits we do. There's a lot of slapstick and physical comedy," Jones said.
Visiting professor Neil Patel, who designed the set for Tony Kushner's "Slavs!" prepared the staging for "Tartuffe" to complement the physical action, he said.
"[Paul Gaffney] wanted it to be simple and spare, rather than naturalistically implying Orgon's house ... It is more of a strategy of presentation than an expression of the play's theme," Patel said.
A Hopkins Center press release said "Patel has draped the stage with about 200 yards of muslin."
According to Patel the set will replicate more closely the classical tradition. "It is more of a 19th century style to do it with a fully decorated room ... It is not trying to look like a 17th century set," he said.
According to Ferry, the set looks "fairly sparse. It looks a lot like a picture frame."
The costumes for the production were designed by visiting faculty member Sherry Lyon.
According to Jones, the play will feature "the coolest costumes. All the women's costumes were handmade from scratch. And they are amazing."
"The costumes are absolutely magnificent. I've never had anything so elaborate on my body before," Bowers said.
The cast and crew had a very short time to put the production together, Ferry said.
"We had a shorter time period than is usually given for a main-stage production because it is a shorter term. We've been working on the show about five weeks," Jones said.
According to Ferry the cast for "Tartuffe" is "great. I have been in a couple productions here and this is one of the tightest groups I have worked with. It has a lot of potential to be funny."
"Preparation has been wonderful," he said.
"Tartuffe" will be shown Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available at the Hopkins Center Box Office. They $7 for reserved seats, $2 for Dartmouth undergraduates and $5 for Dartmouth graduate students.
