Playwright: Molière (Richard Wilbur translation) At: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. Tickets: 773-753-4472; www.courttheatre.org; $45-$65. Runs through: July 21
Resetting classic texts in modern-day surroundings is nothing new. Neither is shaking up expectations of race and class by applying colorblind or heritage casting to works that don't explicitly call for it.
Yet when done well, these directorial approaches to standard theatrical works can make centuries-old scripts feel fresh, vibrant and new. And that's certainly the case with director Charles Newell's take on Tartuffe (The Imposter), Molière's classic 1664 French critique of religious hucksterism and misplaced faith.
Tartuffe completes Newell's Center for Classic Theatre Molière Festival at Court Theatre, which included an earlier production of The Misanthrope featuring largely the same cast of actors. Since I missed The Misanthrope, I can't say which production is better. But I'm more than happy to throw my support behind Newell's smart and very entertaining take on Tartuffe.
Newell resets his Tartuffe in the upscale home of a wealthy African-American family in Chicago's Hyde Park/Kenwood neighborhood, featuring a gorgeous sunken-lounge living room by set designer John Culbert (complete with grand swiveling doors that are perfect for sneaky eavesdropping).
And though Richard Wilbur's ever-clever English adaptation of rhyming couplets is used, Newell and his cast largely resist the temptation to throw in any hip-hop styling into their line deliveries and play the text (and drama) seriously straight.
True, costume designer Jacqueline Firkins does provide often outrageously trendy outfits for the majority of the play's upscale characters, but that's a sign of how forward-thinking and skeptical they are in contrast to the conservatively dressed and easily deceived Orgon (A.C. Smith) and his mother, Madame Pernelle (Allen Gilmore as a religiously severe version of Tyler Perry's Madea).
Elizabeth Ledo is a hilarious spitfire as the maid Dorine, who can't resist speaking her mind, while Patrese D. McClain makes for a gorgeous Elmire, the slinky wife of Orgon who tries to skillfully negotiate her vivaciousness to aid in her quest of bringing down the disliked holy man installed in her home.
This leads to perhaps the one questionable note of Newell's Tartuffe: the title character. I'm not so sure that Philip Earl Johnson's aging hippie holy man could truly have complete sway over A.C. Smith's tough executive take on Orgon. But then again the complete incongruity only shows Orgon's blind trust in Tartuffe and his unwillingness to listen to reason from everyone else around him.
In addition to the sumptuous production design, Newell skillfully peppers his Tartuffe production with great physical gags involving pillows, wigs and other surprises that build up to the desperate climax (which should get the audience as panicked as the characters onstage). This is a Tartuffe to treasure, and Court Theatre had made Molière's time-worthy truths speak refreshingly anew.