Molière Than Thou
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Molière finds himself left without a cast, when all of his fellow performers happen to consume “the same sort of shell fish” at one of the local public inns that the company tends to frequent. Rather than actually refund the precious box office income, Molière offers to perform a “greatest hits” of sorts, and leads the audience (which occasionally participates) through a hilarious succession of favorite speeches that trace his illustrious career. Timothy Mooney plays Molière, who performs routines from Tartuffe, Don Juan, The Doctor In Spite of Himself, The Precious Young Maidens, The Misanthrope, and The School For Wives among others. This gives Molière the perfect opportunity to explain his process of working on these plays, while managing to take a few deft stabs at some of his enemies: the doctors, the lawyers, and the sanctimonious hypocrites who would attack him throughout the years.

Playwright and co-director Timothy Mooney has adapted 15 Molière plays to the stage and performed all over the world. “Molière Than Thou” is drawn entirely on his new versions of these plays, and has received rave reviews throughout the U.S. and Canada while turning a new generation on to Molière. Mooney has been the artistic director of the Stage Two Theatre, taught acting at Northern Illinois University and the University of Nebraska, and wrote The Script Review, a newsletter for playwrights and producers.