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The MAGIC of Moliere
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Kathakar's evening of Moliere reaffirmed how contemporary and relevant his satire is to our times
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WHAT DOES Moliere mean to the Indian theatregoer? The brilliant 17th century French playwright, as presented in a rehearsed reading by Kathakar at the Alliance Francaise on January 12, appeared to hold his own in our time because of his gift for highlighting the comic contrast between how people see themselves and how others see them. Inevitably, he proved controversial because his acid barbs maimed the clergy and the courtiers, doctors and lawyers alike with his quote-worthy dialogue, razor-sharp faculties, and dazzling wit.
Over the years Kathakar — the theatre club at the Alliance Francaise — has presented Lorca and Ionesco, Sophocles, and now Moliere, each distinguished by a polished, erudite script that subtly interweaves true lives and theatre lines to make a lasting impression. This year, "Living with Moliere" proved topical because of its timing, just three days before the French master's birth anniversary on January 15, heralding a trilingual theatre festival at the French cultural centre. It resonated further because Kathakar's theatre talent pool is drawn mainly from Bangalore Little Theatre veteran Vijay Padaki's summer workshops — and BLT's first ever production in 1960 was Moliere's The Would Be Gentleman.
Coincidences apart, though the Moliere reading seemed a trifle under-rehearsed, it brought alive the man and his milieu contextually. How? By recreating his L'Ilustre Theatre troupers after the playwright passed away onstage during a performance of The Imaginary Invalid. As they muse about their future, Moliere reappears as the narrator, so that his reflections trigger pertinent readings, in an evening conceived and directed by Aliyeh Rizvi.
The audience was treated to glimpses of Moliere's genius through his famous verse dialogues, his two banned plays and dazzling social satire. The readings spanned the middle-aged roué Arnolphe's grooming of a suitably naïve spouse from The School for Wives, the unmasking of Tartuffe's hypocrisy disguised as religious piety, a monologue from heart-breaker Don Juan by the narrator, an exposure of the socially ambitious Jourdain from The Would Be Gentleman, a signal encounter between Alceste and Celimene from The Misanthrope, and a radical reaction to the medical profession from The Imaginary Invalid.
True to Kathakar's hallmark, the selections were impeccable. Some renditions stood out for their theatre magic. Especially the Turkish conquest scene from The Would Be Gentleman, with Vijay Padaki beguiling as the gullible, pompous central character, Pritham Kumar as the valet with an imagination that overcomes obstacles, and Sridhar Ramathan as an exuberant fake Mufti. Equally charming was Yogi Verma's reading of the Maxims of Marriage as Agnes before the stern gaze of her fiancé Arnolphe.
Sanjeev Iyer as Moliere brought too much solemnity to so witty a persona. His temperate reading seemed to skim the surface of a life filled with scandal, fame, and scathing plays that spared no one. It left us wishing he had brought more passion to the role. Kathakar's evening of Moliere reaffirmed how contemporary and relevant his satire is to our times. It made us wish we had watched his 30 plays during their 32,000 performances at the Comedie Francaise. And we thank the stars that Jean Baptiste Poquelin chose not to weave tapestries like his father, but turned his pen to plays instead.
ADITI DE
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