The Miser of Paris—uh, Brooklyn
Presenting a Molière comedy in Prospect Park has parallels with presenting a Shakespeare comedy in Central Park. Dramaturgs and directors pull up a 17th century script and tweak it to grab hold of a 21st-century audience’s attention, emphasizing the wit, charm and bite that made the original so vivid and enduring. Throw in some anachronistic humor, cast loose-limbed physical comedians in the roles, and today’s playgoers, especially the youngest, will be more than willing to suspend disbelief over a ridiculous plot and ludicrous resolution.
That’s what Brooklyn’s Molière in the Park does, and the way they do it is on display in its 2024 production of The Miser at the LeFrak Center. Admission is free, and the play is performed in the round with head-mics.
Harpagon, the elderly titular miser, is played as a man by a woman (Francesca Faridany), whereas his son Cleante has been changed into a daughter (played by Alana Raquel Bowers) with the same name. One can easily accept that the female Cleante loves Marianne (MaYaa Boateng)—the young woman whom the miser himself wants to marry. But one may still wonder why writer/translator David Chambers and director Lucie Tiberghien did not do as they did with Faridany as Harpagon: have Bowers play Cleante as the miser’s son. This, since the secret love of Harpagon’s daughter Elise (Ismenia Mendes) for his factotum Valere (Calvin Leon Smith) remains consistent with the original.
Cleante (Alana Raquel Bowers) pleads with her father Harpagon (Francesca Faridany) to let her marry the girl she loves; but Harpagon insists he wants to marry the girl himself!
The dialog is rapid, retaining just enough of the 17th century to convey Parisian mannerisms and daily life: a debt is denominated in crowns, francs, sous, and groats; and everyone takes a carriage to the fair. So the occasional “Okay!” and the use of a cellphone to bring in an offstage voice are funny, not distracting.
A simple three-level riser at center stage, designed by Marie Yokoyama, accommodates the action, and is nicely lit by lighting designer Stoli Stolnack. The actors (all Equity members) are at their comic peak, and are particularly adept in continuous, often hilarious motion. Daniel Pearce and Lisa Gorlitsky play multiple roles, sometimes changing in seconds from character to character—and they are all “characters!” Shoutout to Lakisha May as Frosine, the most ebullient matchmaker this side of Dolly.
Lakisha May (Frosine) making a point about marriage and money.
The show runs about 80 minutes with no intermission. On opening night, though, a sound glitch an hour in forced an unplanned break. But that gave Molière in the Park’s Board President Kaliswa Brewster a chance to jump up onto the riser, cite the company’s outreach to underserved and unfamiliar audiences, and lob a softball pitch for donations. (Reader: it worked! My wife and I scanned the program’s QR code and contributed.)
In a year when the Delacorte is being renovated, and the Public is doing Shakespeare all over town, it’s worth taking the Q to its Parkside stop in Brooklyn and catching Molière en plein air.
The Miser will be performed at the LeFrak Center in Prospect Park through May 19, on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and on Sundays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Matinees are at 11 a.m. on Wednesday May 8, and at 3 p.m. on Wednesday May 15.
Opening photo, l-r: Harpagon (Francesca Faridany), Marianne (MaYaa Boateng), Frosine (Lakisha May) and Valere (Calvin Leon Smith), listen intently as a Spanish nobleman (Daniel Pearce, center) untangles the play’s romantic complications. Photos by Russ Rowland.
