The sapphire, royal purple, and red glow on stage illuminated the towering arches, windows, and charcoal colored townscape backdrop as the crowd anxiously waited for the production to start. Once again, John R. Briggs returns to the Silver Center to direct another memorable student work at PSU. Briggs recently helped with the on-stage reading of King Lear and his close to forty years of experience as a professional director is put on display with Tartuffe.
The play opened as Madame Pernelle (Alexa Pervanas) decided to leave her son Orgon’s house because she found the behavior of its inhabitants immoral and decadent. She sees her grandson, Damis (Tomer Oz) as a brat and her granddaughter, Mariane (Haley McKenney) as too fragile. It is only the new houseguest, Tartuffe (James Evan Grande), who earns her approval. Tartuffe has been invited to stay by the house’s master Orgon (Beau James), who is infatuated by Tartuffe’s seeming piety. The rest of the family believes Tartuffe to be a fraud and a liar, but cannot convince Madame Pernelle to see him this way.
Though spoken of often, the structure of this play is unusual in that the title character, Tartuffe, did not appear until later in the production. Dialogue, gestures, and outright hilarious antics offered laughs during the entire production as Tartuffe’s true motives were revealed throughout the course of the story.
Cast members had only great things to say about this production. “This has really been one of the most positive experiences I’ve ever had in theatre” said Hayden T. Stearns as he chuckled in the foyer outside of the theatre entrance.
The costumes, in addition to the comedic aspects, and extravagant scenery were also a major part of the success of Tartuffe. The individual visions of each character added life and realism to the era being represented. The various fabrics, textures, and colors added pop to the characters’ wardrobes and were masterpieces in their own right. The costumes resembled the colors and patterns of the “Queen of Hearts” in Alice in Wonderland. Orgon and Damis’s wigs provided a masculine look and Madame Pernelle’s amaranth pink and rose-colored dress complimented Tartuffe and Laurent’s black and white garments. Each feather, button, boot, and ruffle were carefully chosen to add intrigue and enthusiasm to the action occurring on stage.
Perhaps at the center of this costuming feat was Grande’s ‘fat suit’. His costume was a spectacle and focal point of the show and added greatly to the element of physical comedy that Tartuffe delivers excellently. The slightest motion created the most exaggerated movement in the suit and was a prominent comedic factor with all characters on stage.
“The challenge is getting used to looking fat and the way the suit moves and hangs as you move around the set,” said James as he mingled with audience members and friends after the performance.
Tartuffeprovided plenty of laughs and entertainment to all audience members in attendance, and speaks to the quality entertainment provided by the Silver Center.