New Blood, Classic Work At Sherman Playhouse

It all started at a dinner party. “Would you like to be involved in the Sherman Playhouse?” member of the playhouse board Katherine Almquist asked a newcomer to the staff at Marvelwood School. That newcomer, Assistant Head of School for Advancement Paul J. Tines, said he would. And now Tines is directing the playhouse’s next production, “Tartuffe,” opening July 8.

It’s perfectly clear why Almquist asked Tines, a fellow who studied theater in college, headed prestigious arts programs, directed and  choreographed many shows and even did a TV ad with Anita Bryant for Florida Orange Juice once in the long-distant past. Also, he loves theater. And most particularly, he loves 17th-century theater and all things French.

“It’s the language,” Tines says,” the style. It’s very physical. And I love the stage. I treat it as my canvas.”

Of course he starts the work of getting a play onto the stage by analyzing the script with the actors, “finding the arc of the play.” Then he gets them to visualize the Paris of 1665, its smells and sounds, the street, the people in the play, their family. “I want the actors to create a whole world for themselves.”

This comedy by Molière centers on the charming but nefarious Tartuffe, who strives to take over the elderly Orgon’s fortune. And wife. How Tartuffe fares in this effort is the center of the play. In addition to the style of the piece, and its wit, Tines says, he is using a wonderful translation that’s both accessible and true to its French roots.

 

“Tartuffe” opens at the Sherman Playhouse for a four-week run, July 8-31 with matinees July 17 and 31. For tickets, go to www.Shermanplayers.org or call 860-354-3622.

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