Sucker Punch: Journeymen's Tartuffe

Kippola seems very concerned with making Tartuffe accessible as well. Before the play begins, he has Flipote, played by Emily Formica, recite a rhyming introduction, introducing the audience to the characters and winking about all the "multiple Helen Hayes we expect to be winning." Then, before and after every scene, Formica sings prettily in French. The song fits with the parlorlike set and the aristocratic costumes, and it could pass without explanation, and yet even the few lines of French are made accessible; they are translated simultaneously by Tartuffe's servant, Laurent, played by Michael Harris. Every effort is made to bring the classic play to a contemporary audience with as much reverence to the original as possible.

The rhyming couplets that make up all the dialogue are not Dr. Seuss. The talented cast brings humor, honesty, and wit to the lines, crafting each couplet to flow naturally from the characters' lips. Sarah Holt wields the cane of Mme. Pernelle, Orgon's mother, with authority and dignity. Orgon's wife, Elmire, is played by Lindsay Haynes, who shows grace and great comedic timing when evading Tartuffe's advances and when chiding her husband. Jesse Terrill as Tartuffe misses some comedic beats, but he oozes the slime of the religious imposter so well you could easily see him on a televangelist show. His over-the-top confessions and airs call to mind the public apologies of shamed officials we could name.

Journeymen Theater Ensemble performs this play in the Church Street Theater without air conditioning, but the period costumes the actors wear make you feel cool by comparison. Brave the heat and catch this honest, faithful, and all-too-relevant play.

Tartuffe is at the Church Street Theatre through June 13. Tickets are available here.