Tim Mooney Performs at SIUE
Tim Mooney performed his one man show “Moliere Than Thou” last week at SIUE’s Dunham Hall. The show features the works of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known by his stage name Moliere, as reinterpreted and translated by Mooney.
In the show Mooney plays an inconvenienced Moliere who is the only remaining member of his production company after the rest are stricken with food poisoning. Not wanting to refund the the audience’s money unless absolutely necessary Moliere offers to perform a series of monologues from some of his most notable roles. What follows is a whirlwind of comical whit and rapidly changing characters as Mooney provides context and costumes from a single on stage trunk.
The show has it’s roots back in 1997 when Mooney was working in Chicago at a small theater company called, “Stage Two,” that specialized in original productions. Mooney took on the task of rewriting “Tartuffe” into a new production in accordance with the theater’s mission statement. Finding a muse in Moliere Mooney went on to write a series of translated Moliere works. “Moliere Than Thou” was born in 2002 when Mooney was asked to provide an acting demonstration to accompany a lecture he was giving on Moliere. Shortly after that Mooney decided to take the show on the road and has been touring ever since.
“I realized that I make more money touring an performing than waiting for someone to pick up one of my scripts and pay me royalties,” Mooney explained, “I kind of transformed my career into being a gypsy as it were.”
While touring Mooney covers over 50,000 miles and reaches over 10,000 audience members a year. During his travels he also provides acting workshops with his performances and has added several other one man plays to his repertoire. He’s also found time to write two books “Acting at the Speed of Life, Conquering Theatrical Style” and “The Big Book of Moliere Monologues.”
Filed Under: Happenings
