Molière:Tartuffe

THEATER
SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2020
2:00 & 7:00 PM

Molière in the Park
French Institute Alliance Française

Free (with registration) (donations requested)
https://fiaf.org/event/2020-06-tartuffe/

It's becoming apparent that standard-issue theater acting doesn't work in the remote Zoom format.  Actors have to scale down as they would for TV; it doesn't do to punch your performance out to the rafters.  Remote readings where the actors didn't scale down have seemed overbroad and unwatchable.  So the companies that have done best with remote readings have been those that take a scaled-down approach to start with.  Which is why I'm worried about this show.  To be sure, Molière is as funny — and as witty (not to mention socially perceptive) — as theater gets.  And, in the theater, Raúl Esparza, the lead here, can't be beat.  But will this production do Molière as if it's on a stage, or will it remember that everybody's in their living rooms?  Fortunately, it won't cost anything to find out.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  Molière calls for the original version of the French 75, which you hardly see anymore (the contemporary version is made with Gin instead of Cognac):  pour 1 oz. each of Cognac and Simple Syrup and 3/4 oz. lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker.  Shake.  Strain into a Champagne flute.  Top with 3 oz. Champagne.  Garnish with a lemon twist.