Director rises to challenges that come with ‘Tartuffe’

By Guy D’Astolfo

Thomas Copeland said he took on the challenge of directing “Tartuffe” because he enjoys seeing old things work the way they were meant to work.

In the case of “Tartuffe,” that means staying true to the script, and it isn’t so easy. The classic 17th-century comedy by Moliere is written in heroic couplet, a form of old English poetry.

“This play presents two interesting problems,” said Copeland. “First, it is in verse, which provides an aesthetic separation between the players and the audience. This distance is valuable mainly as a barrier for us to break down by the actors’ mingling with the audience. Everyone enjoys seeing artifice blend into reality.”

The second challenge of the play, according to Copeland, is its ending.

“Not only does this comedy come closer to tragedy than any other comedy I know of, but the deus ex machina resolution embarrasses directors, who generally try to mute it or abridge it, thereby letting the play come down with a bump. I have decided, on the contrary, to go over the top with the conclusion, and I hope and expect audiences to find it delightful.”

Copeland believes that Moliere himself might approve of his approach. “Moliere loves to mingle effects,” said Copeland. “He knows how to keep you in stitches until he decides to wrench your heart or scare the daylights out of you.”

It’s obvious that Copeland is both a fan and a student of Moliere. He said the French playwright’s social relevance is never better illustrated than in “Tartuffe,” which satirizes pretention and lying.

The comedy, which was translated by American poet Richard Wilbur, is “clever and devastatingly funny,” said Copeland. “I like Moliere because his satire, though as incisive as Swift’s, is good-humored rather than savage.”

Moliere’s “Tartuffe” revolves around the Pernelles, a conventional bourgeois family in late 17th-century Paris. Orgon Pernelle is blessed with a conscientious and clever wife, Elmire, who is a kind stepmother to his young adult children. However, the youngsters have developed minds of their own, and the old man is not quite ready to resign his position of domestic autocrat.

Orgon invites the flamboyantly devout but poverty-stricken Tartuffe to his home as a live-in spiritual guide. The friendship annoys his family — which in turn pleases Orgon by providing him with a respectable means of asserting his authority.

Copeland couldn’t be more pleased with his cast, which is lead by Tim Stanley as Tartuffe. “From the first, I had only one actor in mind for the role of Tartuffe,” said Copeland. “Tim Stanley had been my student [at Youngstown State University] in his freshman year in 1972 and in several courses after that. He can be counted on for very hard and accurate work as well as energy and inventiveness on stage. I was very lucky to lure him out of retirement for this role.”

Orgon is played by Gary Deckant, of whom Copeland said is “imposing in his tyranny, fearsome in his wrath and absurd in his gullibility.”

The cast also includes Sharon Leckie as Elmire, Orgon’s wife. “Her stage presence so commands an audience that she is in danger of stealing even the scenes in which she only listens to others,” said Copeland.