AS SEEN AT THE OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

Response

Best of the Fringe: Best Adapted Work -San Francisco Fringe Festival
“Outrageous … hilariously tortured … cleverly wrought … the humanities are in safe hands this year.” – San Francisco Bay Guardian
“What this wily entrepreneur, Mooney, channeling Molière, proposes is a solo revue of favorite speeches from the oeuvre … linked by their satirical thrusts at hypocrisy, pretension, excess and folly. Moliere’s gallery of peasants, noblemen, cunning servants and credulous bourgeois patsies offers an unparalleled wide-angle view of 17th century society. … Hey, it’s a one-man SNL 17th century scoundrels convention.” – Edmonton Journal
“Molière by Mooney: Carefully crafted kitsch. There is no doubting Mooney’s intelligence and talent. … barbed and brilliant…” – Edmonton Sun
“On behalf of University Theatre and the students in my class, I thank you for your excellent workshop today. The clarity of your communication regarding text work was inspiring. I particularly enjoyed your Tartuffe performance.” – Fred Gorelick, North Carolina State University
“As two French teachers experienced in the teaching of Molière’s works, we thoroughly enjoyed watching the characters come to life in Mr. Mooney’s portrayals. The witty translations captured Molière’s essence, including satire, irony, and ribald references. His animated features, set off by a variety of wonderful wigs, and his energetic stage presence were an important element of the comedy. We have recommended this show to our students for a glimpse into the true world of Molière.”
“Combine Timothy Mooney’s refreshing, clever rhyming couplets with his manic energy and impeccable sense of comic timing, and what results is two hours of delightful theater.” – Kathryn Hutchinson, Fine and Performing Arts Coordinator, Buffalo Grove High School

About the Adaptation

With thirteen Molière plays in my portfolio, I realized that I had been writing material faster than theatres could produce it, and that the best way to introduce this work to the world would be to create a a play in which some of Moliere’s funniest speeches could be explored. Molière Than Thou finds Moliere 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. Mooney, himself, 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.