University theater tackles Moliere

Shakespeare is taught in 300-level acting, whereas the work of the French playwright Moliere is reserved for the 500-level courses.\nIt's not just the stilted language.\nMoliere wrote entirely in rhymed couplets, which makes it harder to deliver the lines.\nSuch is the problem of the University Theatre troupe, which is putting on "The Misanthrope" \nA comic satire of 17th century French court life, "The Misanthrope" slings arrows at both the artificiality of manners and intolerance for one's fellow man.\n"Moliere's genius is unsurpassed in his comedies of character and manners," said Robert Cohen, a professor at the University of California who is one of the many to translate the play. "It's about the excess and artificiality that he saw in everything."\nWritten for the pleasure of the court of Louis XIV, the play centers on Alceste, a blunt critic of the hypocrisies and insincerities of polite society. Given to speaking his mind, he offends, all the while remaining blind to his own egotism. Although maladjusted and obsessed with the faults of mankind, Alceste raises many valid points about the pretensions of gossips and fops.\n"In many ways, 'The Misanthrope' still resonates," said Christine Woodworth, media liason for the Department of Theatre and Drama. "It's been readapted a number of times, in contemporary settings, like Hollywood and New York City."\nAlceste's friend, Philinte, attempts to reason with him, trying to persuade him that there is often merit in saying one thing and meaning another. But he'll have nothing of it.\nLike all of Moliere's characters, Alceste is impervious to good sense. He's human folly writ large.\nHis tragic flaw is that he's hopelessly in love with Celimene, a coveted widow besieged by several foppish suitors. She leads Alceste along, but won't open herself up to him.\nHer role is ambiguous -- it can't be deciphered whether she's simply a coquette or in love with Alceste, although driven away by his moral snobbishness.\n"Celimene is an enigma," said graduate student Kelly Ann Ford, who plays the character as her Master of Fine Arts thesis role. "Both the characters around her as well as the audience cannot always tell whether she is telling the truth or not. Deciding what makes Celimene tick, is largely left up to the actress' imagination."\nFor Ford, preparation for the role was more than simple rehearsal. She had to research a written paper and an oral justification of her conception of the role.\n"Because I knew in advance that I would be performing this role, I had the unusual luxury of being able to thoroughly investigate the time period," she said.\nFaithful to the text, the production is set and costumed in period.\n"The actors have been adopting a style that they usually don't get the opportunity to use," she said. "They've really dived into the period," Woodworth said\n"The Misanthrope" plays through Saturday. Curtain time for all shows is 8 p.m. Tickets are $11.50 for general admission, $10.50 for students and seniors, and are available at the IU Auditorium Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Parking is available in the Jordan Avenue Parking Garage located east of the University Theatre, or in the Main Library parking lot, located north of the theatre. Because of construction, allow plenty of time to find parking.