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some french comedy Tonight, I saw another Moliere play for the very first time. It was a production of his play Tartuffe done at Marquette University. Not knowing very much about the play, I went there with an open mind. All that I knew beforehand was that it was a comedy and poked fun of religious hypocrisy which I thought was a clever choice at a Jesuit college. Plus I saw the venue as an interesting contrast to the Milwaukee Rep, where I usually see live theater. Not too surprisingly, there is a clear difference between most college theater and professional productions. Scenery isn't as elaborate and the acting skills of the performers tends to be less polished as well. Both of those generalizations held true tonight. However, that doesn't stop me from giving the actors credit for what they do. I never saw myself as an actor and admire people who can perform on stage for any length of time. All that I ever did in terms of public speaking was some recitations for forensics when I was in middle school. That being said the actors that I saw tonight were at varying skill levels. Iambic pentameter is not something that everyone can do. Oh, I imagine that many people can memorize lines written in such a style, but to deliver said text in a natural sounding rhythm is another thing. What this meant is that Dorine, Orgon and Tartuffe were far more impressive to me than the fellow actors in their speech. When any of them spoke, I was far less conscious of the beat. Thankfully or maybe in a stroke of good casting, these three had the most lines. If they hadn't been as competent as they were this evening, I suspect that I would have winced through the entire play. Some of the things that did make me wince included the garish makeup used to make one woman older. Now transforming a young twenty something woman into a woman in her sixties is not an easy task, but from the second row all that I could do was focus on the clearly drawn lines on her face. None of the marks had been blended into the rest of her skin and I wondered if the makeup looked better from afar. From where I was sitting, it was very awkward looking if not child like in application. Another distraction was an actor who clearly had a cold of some sort. Every so often he would cough and it was definitely not something that his character was supposed to do. Obviously I commend him for continuing to do the show, but at the same time it did take me out of the moment whenever he coughed and or sniffled. Overall, I liked the play and wouldn't object to going there again sometime. As I said earlier it provides a nice contrast to what I see at the Milwaukee Rep and the cost of the tickets is easy on the pocketbook. A seat in the second row at the Rep would have been far more than I what I paid to see actors younger than myself trying to learn their craft. |