News Releases @ TCC

TCC PRESENTS MOLIERE’S GREAT SATIRE, TARTUFFE

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – (Oct. 21, 2005) – Moliere’s classic comic satire, Tartuffe, will be presented by Tidewater Community College at 8 p.m. Nov. 9-12 and 2 p.m. Nov. 13 at the TCC Chesapeake Studio Theatre on the Chesapeake Campus. It will run again at 8 p.m. Nov. 18-19 at the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in Norfolk.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors. For more information, call 822-5219. Reservations are recommended for Chesapeake Studio Theatre performances only; call 822-5219 to reserve seats.

TCC professor Ed Jacob directs the play, produced and acted by students in TCC’s theatre program.

Jacob notes that Moliere, whose real name was Jean Baptiste-Poquelin, is considered the world’s greatest comic playwright. While his works were entertaining, they were often controversial. Moliere’s satirical comedy helps people recognize and laugh at their own flaws, and perhaps more importantly, exposes the follies of society. In Tartuffe, Moliere explores religious hypocrisy and excess.

When Tartuffe was first produced in Paris in 1664, religious leaders accused Moliere of undermining the foundations of religion. The play was banned from large-scale production by the Society of the Holy Sacrament, and not until the society was dissolved in 1669 did Tartuffe receive full-scale production and become the most popular French comedy. To this day, Tartuffe remains provocative and, some would say, relevant.