Performing Arts

One thing you can say for the Dallas Theater Center's The Misanthrope is that all the jokes land.

WILLIAM DESHAZER/DMN

Matthew Gray (left) and Adrian LaTourelle perform in the Dallas Theater Center's amusing, if somewhat heavy-handed, production of The Misanthrope.

The audience at Tuesday's opening laughed heartily at the exaggerated prissiness of Molière's fops and social climbers. The design's inventive incongruities – iPods and helium tanks juxtaposed with 17th-century sets and costumes – earned some giggles as well.

Even the gorgeously precise rhymes of Richard Wilbur's inspired translation evoked their own chortles. But here the production's problems rise to the surface. Whereas the delicacy of the verse calls for the lightness of quail or the richness of pheasant, the actors frequently substitute coarse ostrich – and occasionally outright ham.

Molière builds his plot around his title character, Alceste, who rails against society's insincerity and finds himself embroiled in quarrels and lawsuits because of his bluntness. The weak spot in his philosophical armor is his passion for the flighty Celimene, who keeps at least four suitors on the leash at the same time.

Adrian LaTourelle makes Alceste so comically vehement that we can't identify with him in the least. That undermines the play, because we haven't a clue why the one honest man in the play sticks by him and the three women are all so attracted to him.

Director David Kennedy permits those stylish Dallas actors Regan Adair and Ash Smith to go way overboard as Alceste's affected rivals; Mr. Adair at least contrives some very funny business with a pair of compact mirrors. Visiting actor Shawn Fagan manages to inject some charm into his outrageous comedy, too; he's the most satisfying of the men in the cast.

All three women are superlative. Kelly Mares as flirtatious young Celimene might bring Britney Spears to mind – if she weren't so very well-spoken (and so splendidly gowned and coiffed). Lynnda Ferguson, who has played the great tragic roles at major regional theaters across the country, gives the prudish Arsinoe a certain grandeur. Jessica D. Turner plays the sensible Eliante in high style; we believe in her sincerity despite her eloquent and energetic way of speaking.

If only the men had relaxed a little and taken some stylistic cues from the women, this might have been a Misanthrope to cherish.

PLAN YOUR LIFE Through May 13 at the Dallas Theater Center's Kalita Humphreys Theater. Runs 145 mins. $15 to $60. 214-522-8499, www.dallastheatercenter.org.