Molière lives! One-man show 'Molière Than Thou' coming to APSU
A scurrilous rumor circulating for the last 300 or so years suggests that Molière is dead, the victim of a coughing seizure amid the performance of his final play, “The Imaginary Invalid.” Molière is alive, better than ever and performing under the name Timothy Mooney. Not only is Molière still alive, but, in “Molière Than Thou,” coming to Austin Peay State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance at 6 p.m. Nov. 6, 2018, he speaks English and is every bit as insightful, ribald, irreverent and enthusiastic as the first time around.
Mooney’s work with Molière goes well beyond his celebrated, manic performance of 10 of his monologues. Mooney has rewritten 15 of Molière’s plays in their entirety, bringing a dexterity of English speech to these works which were so dazzling in their original French. This language barrier has distanced Molière from the English-speaking audience, which has never appreciated him as well as his renaissance brother, Shakespeare. “Molière Than Thou” finds a Molière who stands toe-to-toe with Shakespeare, trading brilliant couplets late into the night.
In the course of his 85-minute one-man play, Mooney seduces the audience with a complexity of language that is a sensual delight. Parading through the best loved plays of France’s history, “Molière Than Thou” reinvigorates renaissance theatre, the court of Louis XIV and the vision that generated some of the most beloved plays of all time.
Mooney’s performance is literate, enthusiastic and athletic. The play won a “Best of” award from the San Francisco Fringe Festival and was listed first of the “Top Ten Artistic Events of 2006” from the Chattanooga Pulse. In its Orlando Fringe performances, the press raved “Clearly Moliere lives,” “A delight for all those who appreciate the barbed satire and slyly nuanced language in Molière’s classic skewerings of the rich and pompous.” Winnipeg Fringe reviewers celebrated: “The listener can draw all the available pleasure from the splendid speeches penned by the man considered the French Shakespeare,” and commended “Mooney’s unbelievably expressive eyes and fabulous facial expressions.” The New York media exclaimed, “Move over Richard Wilbur, Timothy Mooney is the real deal … A very tight performance which should be seen by any aspiring actor who wants to tread the boards.” One audience member cheered, “I’ve seen the Comedie Francaise, and they’ve got NOTHING on this guy!”
Mooney will also be presenting two workshops on writing, producing and touring the one-man play. Workshops will be in the Trahern Building on Nov. 6, 2018, at the following times: 11:10 a.m.-12: 35 p.m. in room 420B and 12:45 p.m.-2:10 p.m. in room 402.
“Molière Than Thou” is sponsored by the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and will be performed in the Margaret Fort Trahern Laboratory Theatre. This event is open and free to the public; seating is first come, first served. For more information, call the Trahern Theatre Box Office at 931-221-7379 or email boxoffice@apsu.edu.