= Molicre’s Misanthrope, an adaptation by Leonard Angel at the Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre to Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. Box office: 990-7810. Martin Millerchip Curtain Call martin@nsnews.com “The misanthrope hates not man. The misanthrope bites idiocy, stupidity, self-right- cousness, authoritarianism, ” selfishness, greed, ignorance, ~ dishonesty, cant, and balder- dash. All of tise be hates rightfully. The problem is that _ all of these are shared by no ether member of the animal ‘kingdom but man. And the misanthrope docs net enter- tain the vain hope that these traits will ever stop determin- éug man’s behaviour.” The Misanthrope’s Alphabet AROUND about 1643, at the age of 21, Jean-Baptiste -Poguelin changed his name to Moliére to : spare his father the embarrassment of hav- ing: an actor in the family. . . The young man who had been educated at onc of the best: schools in Paris turned his back on his father’s ‘upholstery business, despite ‘its court connections, and formed a theatre troupe called The Hlustrious ‘ Theatre. It was anything bur: crowds stayed away in .. droves once,the company - began to.charge admission -and after three flops in three different Parisian venues ‘Over two'years's ‘several actors quit. : Undeteri d,; ‘Molitre and --‘the remaining actors hit the .t6ad to tour the provinces 12. years... They honed *.. cir craft, found out what made people. laugh‘and * Molitte begar.'to write lays (1? Etourds, or-Tie 7 Blunderer survives). : 7 ‘In 1658 the troupe came’. and tied for.a _ ship? But-forgetting. the ‘provincial successes, they performed a'scrious wae that they quickly realized .. id bored everyone silly... ‘Moliére asked Louis XIV for’ ermission.to perforni one ‘of his. own plays, The Love- top' theatres in’ Paris, the. Hotel du: Petit Bourbon and Troupe dé Monsicur: Moliére’s tise of satire ‘at the 2 and awyet ons i him hated nthe very circles he found Off ended ‘complaints about newspapers. To - f ‘oder a complsne all it cakes is the | Cost, oF ai ister. 7 . ek (604) $95-2571 4) $93-2573.: NEWS photo Brad Leswisge DESPITE her despair at his uncommitted attitude, Alice (Melissa Oei) yearns to be swapt off her feet by Solomon (Bes Hussey) in Leonard Angel's brilliant adap- tation, Moliéra’s Misanthrope. The production has two more performances at Capilano College’s Performing Arts Theatre. nobility eventually succeed- ed in having the Petit Bourbon closed, but the King granted the company the use of the Théatre du Palais Royale where Moliére worked for the rest of his "life (he died performing the title role of the hypochon- -driac’Argan in his own play The Imaginary Invalid in *.1673). - - Moliére’s greatest plays five on 340 years later. The School for Husbands, The School for Wives, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, Tartuffe, ied and, not least, The ‘Misanthrope are constantly revived and/or retranslated, * Vancouyer playwright * Leonard Angel’s reworkin - Of the script is not origina! Sin the sense that many writ- “ers have attempted to place * the scripts in a more mod- ern context. (Timothy. Mooney is one U.S. writer “who has made a living doing - - just that.) ° Why? Whar is the urge co ‘recontextualize the work? ‘Does it not work in the~ - milieu of the Sun King’ s court. --¥es, of course’ it does. But Moliére’s 3 genius was observation of human foible and failing — and human nature has not changed appreciably in 343 years! So why not take a play that looks at beautiful people who say one thing to your face and another behind your back and move the action to facile film world of Hollywood North. Good ideas don’t always work, but Angel has crafted a taut modern parable that the Cap Theatre ensembie have seally sunk their teeth into under Michael McLauglin’s spirited direc- tion. And Angel makes another. break with the orig- inal by switching the gender roles. Alceste becomes Alicé, Alceste’s friend Philinte becomes Phyllis and Alceste’s beautiful Celimene becomes the narcissistic . Solomon etc. ° -And it all works quite brilliantly. Angel even uti- lizes Moliére’s rhyming cou- plet which helps to support the pace of the action on the impereepiible tick-tack of its rhythm. And if his’ couplets are not always as clever as the Richard Wilbur transistions that 1 enjoy, they are idiomatically per- Our new DelRay gas fireplace inserts are the solution to your home heating needs. These qual- § ity products feature high heat output and very reasonable prices. Bring quality and affordabliity to your home with a DelRay fully automatic with the touch of 2 switch. Insert comes with fan. | CHRISTMAS § SPECIAL $1099 _reg *1565. Offer expires Dec. 15/99 q Cach & Carry - your gas fitter or surs eemesets) AVAILABLE fect. A rare and excellent feat! A few pieces of rehearsal business still felt forced on opening night, but there are no real weak links in this production and once the plot moves from the gener- ality’s of insincerity to the particulars of the forthright Alice’s (the excellent. Melissa Oe?) love for a man who irritates her the most, the production really takes off. Bryan Pollock’s simple set is a riot of nev-hippy colour and suggestive scenic pieces (backdrop flats man- age to suggest high rise buildings and the North - Shore mountain skyline at the same time) that are a testament to what a small budget can achieve in the hands of a gifted scenic ainter. Des Price’s lighting - acks up the flair for colour and Kim Bothen’ costumes . make clearly defined charac- ter statements although these are limited by budget ~ constraints. 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