'Moliere Than Thou!' to be presented Oct. 7 at Tusculum

A one-man production of "Moliere Than Thou!" will be presented Monday, Oct. 7, at Tusculum College.

Tim Mooney performs as Moliere in this play that features excerpts from the French playwright's comedies. It will be presented at 7 p.m. in the Behan Arena theater in the lower level of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building.

"Moliere Than Thou" finds Moliere left without a cast, when all of his fellow performers happen to consume "the same sort of shell fish" at one of the local public inns that the company tends to frequent. Rather than actually refund the precious box office income, Moliere offers to perform a "greatest hits" of sorts, and leads the audience (which occasionally participates) through a hilarious succession of favorite speeches that trace his illustrious career.

Included in the play are routines from "Tartuffe," "Don Juan," "The Doctor in Spite of Himself," "The Precious Young Maidens," "The Misanthrope," and "The School for Wives."

Mooney penned "Moliere Than Thou," and describes his work involving the French playwright as "not just a job, it's a mission for me." Although not as well known in the United States, Moliere is recognized in Europe as one of the most important figures in theater history. Mooney has written 14 adaptations of Moliere's plays, which have been performed coast to coast and internationally.

Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $5 for children under 12. The production is part of the 2002-03 performance and lecture series of Acts, Arts, Academia, a Tusculum College Arts Outreach program, in association with Greeneville Community Concerts.

For more information about the performance, contact Arts Outreach at 798-1620 or visit its Web site at: http://arts.tusculum.edu. Acts, Arts, Academia is supported by Dr. Sam and Mary Agnes Miller, the Society of Cicero, Campus Life, Arts Outreach, and the Tennessee Arts Commission.