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Sapin by Molière
Directed by Aaron Cromie
Lantern Theater Company
Philadelphia, PA
December 3, 2009 - January 3, 2010
extended to January 10, 2010
I have rarely found a Molière play to be a laughing matter - a well-educated titter perhaps, a smiling acknowledgement of my (ahem) deep understanding of the period and its mores - but uninhibited laughter, Oui mais, noni Admittedly, I understood that the plays were known to have made the French laugh (but they find Jerry Lewis funny) and that Molieres contemporaries were astounded by his "ability to extract visual comedy from the situations he engineers on stage" (MacLean xi). My acquaintance with genuine laughter while watching his plays remained a matter of academic faith. No more! The Lantern Theater Company's production of Scapin made me and the authence roar and changed my view of Molière's work. And certainly, a change in the authence's approach to Molière, the venerable classic French dramatist, was something that the production had in mind: how many productions of Molière plays circulate a press release that proudly proclaims "Scapin is perfect for children ages 8 and up"? Furthermore, how many productions have a cast that is primarily made up of puppets?
One of the lesser-known of the Molière oeuvre, Les Fourberies de Scapin was first produced at the Theatre du Palais Royal on May 24, 1671, two years before Molière's death. The great French critics did not approve of it. Boileau claimed that he could not recognize the great author of The Miser in Scapin; Voltaire dismissed it as one of the low comedie plays Molière wrote for the masses. At the same time, it has been regularly staged: among the famous adaptations are Thomas Otway's The Cheats of Scapin for Restoration English authences and the innovative Jacques Copeau production in New York of 1917 that revitalized the play for modern audiences.
The Lantern version is not your father's Molière. Committed to "an innovative and stimulating theatrical experience," the Lantern wants to keep classics alive by making them...