Friday, November 14, 1997
Witty, light-hearted comedy proves its learning
THEATER:
‘Ladies’ satire still sparkles with insight in latest local
productionBy Michael Gillette
Daily Bruin Contributor
"The Learned Ladies" is an oddity in Moliere’s canon. One of the
great playwright’s final works, it seems meant to be read as a
light-hearted meta-literary rewrite of his earlier masterpiece
"Tartuffe."
Both plays present a hypocritical suitor who preys through
flattery and light chiding on the hypocrisy of a bourgeois
household’s head in order to get his hands on the daughter’s dowry.
But while in "Tartuffe" the suitor is a fraudulent zealot who uses
his supposed fervency to gain his grasp over the father’s mind and
purse, driving the family to the brink of ruin, Moliere’s rogue in
"The Learned Ladies" is a poet, Trissotin, who wields his foppish
pedantry, fooling the family’s mother and driving the others to
distraction.
It is the latter comedy that Glendale’s A Noise Within theater
company stages, with wit and insight, through Nov. 24.
"Tartuffe" caused a scandal and became the subject of a
censorship battle that kept it from premiering until five years
after it was written. But "The Learned Ladies" would not offend
anyone, even in Louis XIV’s conservative court, for which Moliere
wrote. But while it lacks the weight of some of the writer’s other
triumphs, such as "The Misanthrope" and the "The School for Wives,"
it showcases amply the delights that his singular art offers.
His brilliant use of 12-syllable Alexandrian verse that manages
to be at once authoritative and satirical is well-preserved in
Richard Wilbur’s translation. Wilbur’s gift is most evident in
Trissotin’s visit to the learned ladies’ parlor which precedes the
intermission of A Noise Within’s marvellous production of the play.
The scene begins with the women pleading to hear a reading of
Trissotin’s dreadful verse. He obliges them with a ridiculous
sonnet, which they then dissect and critique, favorably, of course,
to his bemusement.
The scene extends as Trissotin (Robertson Davis) announces he
has invited a visitor, fellow poet Lepine (Kent Burnham), who is
also an expert in Greek  a fact which elicits ecstatic
shrieking from the lady of the house, Philamonte (Jennifer Parker).
Trissotin and Lepine spend minutes exchanging lofty,
reference-heavy compliments to one another, and Trissotin invites a
reading from Lepine, who first demurs, then produces an eight-foot
scroll containing his latest ballad. Before starting, he insults
the poem Trissotin has just read, which he had heard the night
before, not knowing the name of the author. The two snipe at each
other as a result and soon fire full-voiced denouncements,
whereupon Lepine stomps out. Now the scene is two-thirds over.
This production captures all the wit of the play. More than
that, though, it leaves room for each actor to find and exaggerate
the tics of his or her character so that the stage seems to
literally brim with personality.
Even in this abundance, one performance stands out  that
of Emily Herber in the part of Belise, Philamonte’s spinster sister
who, having read too many novels, sees a suitor in every man and
issues regretful rejections to nearly every actor in the play.
Herber glows with delusional pleasure throughout, except for those
times when she offers sly nods of understanding to her beaus.
Belise is only one of the many characters who suffer from having
taken the wrong cues from the books they read, and having cast
aside common sense in favor of "learning." A Noise Within’s
production takes all the right cues from Moliere’s text, and offers
a perfect chance to see one of the city’s best theater companies in
peak form.
THEATER: A Noise Within’s "The Learned Ladies" runs through Nov.
24 at 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. For more information, call
(818) 546-1924.
A Noice Within
Ann Marie Shipstad and Mark Bramhall appear in Moliere’s
play.