Scenic Design by
Darwin Reid Payne

Costume Design by
Mary Wayne-Thomas 

Lighting Design by
Jonathan Christman 

Speech Coaching by
Brook Davis

Stage Manager Kyle Haden* 

M me. PERNELLE Orgon's mother 
Heather McClain*

ELMIRE Orgon's wife
Megan Cramer*

MARIANE Orgon's daughter, in love with Valère Elizabeth Thalhimer*

DORINE Mariane's lady's-maid
Aileen Socrates

DAMIS Orgon's son 
Matt Mundy*

CLÉANTE Orgon's brother-in-law 
Bo Perry*

FLIPOTE M me. Pernelle's maid 
Jennifer Wynne

ORGON Elmire's husband 
Drew Droege*

VALÈRE in love with Mariane 
Bill Goodwin 

TARTUFFE a hypocrite 
Jeff Schoenheit

LAURENT Tartuffe's servant 
David Grimes 

M. LOYAL a baliff 
Drew Rush

A POLICE OFFICER 
Clinton Wilburn

GUARD 
Georgio Spelvino

* Member of The Anthony Aston Players 

Costume Shop Supervisor
Lisa Weller 

Audience Services Coordinator
Shanda Smith 

Assistant Stage Managers
Natalie Cordone, Peyden Fitzhugh* 

Scenic Artist:
Gretchen Kibbe

Master Carpenter 
Eddie Childress* 

Props Chief
Tafana Fiore 

Scene Shop Assistants
Eddie Childress*, Tafana Fiore, Amer Khan, Heather McClain* Katie Rief, Dan Stern* 

Scenery & Props Crew
Stephanie Anderson, Andy Archer Cort Bennett, Claire Boetticher Jonathan Bonifay, Davis Byerly, Scott Cathcart John Cheek, Trisha R. Eyler, Jermaine Foots Richard Forsyth, W. Ryan Griffin, Brock Hilpert Richard Noga, Darren Nordone, Patrick O'Keefe Chase Palamar, Mike P. Southern Chris Vaughan, Trey Walters 

Cutter/Draper
Lisa Weller 

Costume Shop Assistants
Tara Hawks, Kirstin Johnson Erin Korey, Kate Lewis Julia Settle, Pamela Yeager

Costume Construction Crew Margaret Brooks, Alyssa Bryant Chuck Compton, Chrystal Cox, Scott Duncan Sarah King, Beth Klein, Geoff Lamont Rachael Lewis, Erin Logan, Corie Miles Bailey Pham, Chip Pratt Emily Stoots, Polly Young 

Wardrobe
Chrystal Thomas 

Hair Stylist & Wig Master Catherine Justice* 

Electrics Assistants
Cate Calhoun*, Jenny Harrison* Edwin Howard*, Darren Linvill* 

Electrics Crew
Nathan Bolling, Mike Dzamba Charles Goodman, James Griffith Robert O'Kelley, Tom McKiernan 

Lightboard Operator
Bill Diggle* 

Sound Engineering
Jim Frazier 

Publicity Assistants
Tafana Fiore, Meghan Higgins* Bo Perry*, Kourtney Vahle*

Photography 
Bill Ray III 

Box Office & Front of House Staff 
Sarah Brewer Elizabeth Rief Cheek, Kristen Eppley* Kristine Goldhawk, Jennifer S. Harrison Leah Homan, David Kerns, Cammie Wilson 

Theatre Office Assistants Allyson Hilton, Sarah Kutner Katie Parker, Ryan Scholl 

* Member of The Anthony Aston Players

The history of Tartuffe is generally known but bears repeating. It was first produced in 1664 in a three act version (perhaps the first three acts of the five acts you will see tonight) for Louis XIV and his court at Versailles. While the King liked the play, the Catholic Church did not; especially the major Catholic lay brotherhood that thought the satire too close for comfort. The King was the only one who could give his approval for a performance of the play. Thus the Church's objections led to heated lobbying at court. Molière lost. The play was banned but Molière did not give up. He tried a second version in 1667 but again the play was suppressed because of the pressures of the Church. In 1669 the King ultimately relented and permitted the final version to be performed and published. All of Paris lined up for tickets and there were subsequently forty-five public and five private performances presented, considerably enriching the coffers of Molière's company. We did not choose Tartuffe because of its sensational past. We are presenting the play because it is generally regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever written. Molière claimed that the play was a satire on religious hypocrisy and Richard Wilbur, the translator of tonight's text, simply calls it a "deep" comedy. Although the charac-ter of Tartuffe is a religious hypocrite, the play has little to do with religion. It is a comic cautionary tale, if you will, about neurotic obsession and its consequence. The duped Orgon is the classic comic fool. He can't see that Tartuffe is a blatant fraud and is made comical because of his blindness to his adored guest's all too obvious guile. Orgon exhibits an "unnatural fondness" for Tartuffe that borders on idolatry. He is so besotted with Tartuffe that he is willing to sacrifice his wealth, his family and even his only daughter to the charlatan who has hoodwinked him through his false piety. This extreme devotion prompts his family and friends to warn him to no avail of Tartuffe's true motives. The situation becomes so desperate that Orgon's wife, Elmire, must virtually sacrifice her own virtue to unmask the rascally Tartuffe. Curing obsessions sometimes takes extreme measures it would seem. Orgon's overwrought reactions to his discovery of Tartuffe's duplicity and the subsequent series of reversals bring the play to an unexpected climax and a happy ending. Throughout this play fraught with extremes, the character of Cléante speaks for reason and moderation. He makes good sense and is probably speaking for Molière himself. Richard Wilbur's translations of Molière's plays have received high praise for their stageworthyness. He attempts to be as faithful as possible to "both Molière's words and his poetic form." In his preface to Tartuffe he writes " . . . .I am happy to report . . . that contemporary audiences are quite willing to put up with rhymed verse on the stage." Using Wilbur's translation has proved to be a wonderful challenge and adventure for all of us. We hope you enjoy our performance of this classic comedy. - 

Harold Tedford