BWW Reviews: Giddy Comedy Gold in Seattle Shakes' TARTUFFE

Moliere's "Tartuffe" is already a classic drink from the comedy well from which many have drawn. But what director Makaela Pollock and the folks at Seattle Shakespeare Company have done with their current production is to take that comedy and reinvigorated it with a kind of screwball comedy style making the already funny downright giddy hilarity.

The story is reminiscent of all those farces and "I Love Lucy" episodes (probably where they got much of their inspiration for those episodes) as Orgon (Peter Lohnes) has taken in the pious religious leader Tartuffe (R. Hamilton Wright) to guide his spiritual well being. But his family thinks that Tartuffe is nothing but a con artist and in order to show him for the unscrupulous man he is they plan to set a trap where they will catch him attempting to seduce Orgon's wife Elmire (Christine Marie Brown) with whom Tartuffe is infatuated. And they need to uncover the man before Orgon marries his daughter Marianne (Maya Sugarman) off to Tartuffe and signs away all his money to him.

Sounds like a sitcom or romcom plot from today doesn't it? But no, this French play from 1664 is where much of those sitcom sensibilities come from. Yes, and Shakespeare too but we're talking about Moliere here. But Pollock has updated this situation into somewhat modern day (think 1940's) with an updated set, costumes and tone while still keeping the rhyming verse of the dialog intact. No small feat but she pulls it off beautifully in no small part to the set and costumes from Carol Wolfe Clay and Christine Myers and the wonderful screwball comedy film underscoring from Robertson Witmer.

And then there's the cast who seem to have been plucked right out of a 40's comedy complete with conniving, banter and the occasional mugging Red Skelton-like verbalization of surprise. Wright makes for a superb bad guy with his duplicitous nature and perfectly timed side glances to the audience. Suzy Hunt turns in a brilliant opener of the show as she espouses the virtues of Tartuffe and then blusters out like an ill tempered cyclone. Sugarman along with Quinn Armstrong make for the adorable couple we're rooting for and Sugarman's breakdowns are priceless. Lohnes' dimwitted staunch blindness to Tartuffe is complemented perfectly by the unwavering devotion of Brown as his wife caught in the middle. But it's Brandon J. Simmons as Elmire's brother, Bhama Roget as her maid and Alex Matthews as Orgon's son that truly embody the style and bring much of the laughs. Especially Roget who seems to be channeling a cross between Katherine Hepburn and Lucille Ball with her brilliant comedic timing and hysterical facial expressions.

I just cannot emphasize enough the amount of fun this show is and how much you should do your level best to catch it. But what I can do it give it the highest rating in my three letter rating system, a glorious WOW! I'll admit to a somewhat deflated feeling of "This should be fun" when going to the show last night but what I came away with was an evening of comedy bliss.

"Tartuffe" from Seattle Shakespeare Company performs at the Center Theatre at the Seattle Center through April 12th. For tickets or information contact the Seattle Shakespeare Company at 206-733-8222 or visit them online at www.seattleshakespeare.org.

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