By Julianna Fultineer

“Tis a mighty stroke at any vice to make it the laughing stock of everybody; for men will easily suffer reproof; but they can by no means endure mockery. They will consent to be wicked but not ridiculous.”

The above words of Moliere’s appeared in the preface for the first published edition of Tartuffe. Many of you are probably wondering where this man is in this production blog. So far, we’ve talked about jazz, flappers, and the ambiance of 1920′s America. But what about the origins of this play? Even when transposing a classic work to a new time period, it is important to pay attention to its roots. Let’s explore those roots and how they can connect to our 1920′s concept.

Here he is. The man of the hour: Moliere. He was born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in 1622 to a middle class family of upholsterers. His family was relatively well-off, and his father acted as the furnisher to the royal family of France. Expecting him to take over the family business, his father sent Jean-Baptiste Poquelin to the College de Clermont. In 1643, however, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin actively renounced his family’s business and vowed to take up a life of the stage. By 1644, there was recorded use of the name “Moliere”. Some sources have attributed his change in name to a desire to protect his family against the shame of a career in the theatre.

His early theatre career got off to a rough start. He joined a theatre troupe with Madeleine Béjart for which he wrote as well as acted. During the early years of this troupe, Moliere met with huge debts and even spent time in debtors prison. By 1650, times were a little better and Moliere had taken over as head of the group. It was not until 1658, however, that he would have his first performance in front of King Louis XIV.

Moliere’s plays became a favorite of King Louis XIV, which protected his works from persecution by religious groups of the time. Tartuffe, in particular met with a heavy dose of scandal. The play was first performed at Versailles  as part of Les Plaisirs de l’Île Enchantée in 1664. Tartuffe pokes fun at both religious devotees and the upper class through its depiction of Orgon’s family and its interaction with the religious hypocrite, Tartuffe. This incurred the wrath of the Society of the Holy Sacrament and the Parti des Devots. These religious groups were tied in with the aristocracy and help significant power. The battle over the right to perform, produce or even read Tartuffe took five years and was not resolved until 1669 when a ten year period of religious “calm” (often called The Peace of the Church) took over.

The plays of Moliere would go on to be produced and met with commercial success until the end of his life in 1673. He continued to write as well as act in his own works. The master of comedy lead a life utterly consumed by the theatre. Moliere spent most of his life battling a terrible hack, and passed away following an intense coughing fit during the fourth performance of The Imaginary Invalid. This exit seems, in many ways, fitting for a man who devoted himself so fully to his art.

Sources:

Encyclopedia Britannica – Moliere (French dramatist)

Gale Biography in Context – Moliere

Encyclopedia Britannica – Peace of the Church (Roman Catholicism)

TheatreHistory.com – Moliere

Hello everyone! I am Sarah, Julianna’s assistant dramaturg for this amazing production of Tartuffe! We are so excited for you to jump into the world of the show, so to help you along the way, we’ll be posting some information for you to better understand the context of our 1920s American setting. So let’s jump in!

With cultural and political polarization going on in America during the early 1920s, we see an emergence of American music taking root in major cities across the country. The fun, syncopated music, renown for its brassy and stylistic solos, is none other than jazz. But before we can talk about the music, we have to talk about its birthplace, New Orleans. Imagine a man, working a low paying day job, going home to Storyville, the New Orleans slums, and spending his free time learning music. Jazz formed from a blend of previously existing styles, like country blues, folk hymn, and ragtime. With musicians learning the European techniques popular of the times, and combining it with the roots of African rhythm and improvisation we see an emergence of a new style entirely. Some of these genius musicians who made their start in New Orleans include Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, and our Jazz symbol, Louis Armstrong. These legends help create a canon for New Orleans jazz, and led the way for younger black musicians to gain a way to fame. From this video you see the fun and charismatic style of the legend, Louis Armstrong.

Check out this clip of Ken Burns’ documentary, “Jazz”

Though jazz made its debut in New Orleans, its brilliant musicians were likely to find better opportunities for touring and recording in other major cities. With the Great Migration. or the major move of African Americans from the South to the North due to oppression and lack of work, musicians made their way up the Mississippi to Chicago, and later on to the Big Apple, New York City. On the road, these musicians would form small travelling bands. Unlike marching bands or classical orchestras, jazz bands would allow multiple instruments to share the melody and expanded on it through improvisation. This “call and response” between the rhythm section and the brass would later be one of the major characteristics of the style. Though jazz originated as a sinful lower class music, set in brothels and late night bars, the upbeat and fun style quickly caught on as a dance craze in the big cities. Jazz could no longer be considered the underground style from New Orleans, but the music that would define an era and shape the music industry forever.

Works Cited

Burns, Ken. Jazz. 2000. Video. YoutubeWeb. 21 Sep 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pimw60xGmuA&feature=youtu.be>.

Gioia, Ted. The History of Jazz. 2. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 1-87. Print.

By Julianna Fultineer

There is, perhaps, no better icon of the 1920′s than the flapper. During the ’20s, a New Woman emerged. She scoffed at the idea of lifelong servitude to housewifedom and saw herself as independent and self-sufficient. More women were going to college and working as a means to be independent of their families. The New Woman was taken to extremes in the form of the flapper.

Bobbed hair, fringe dresses, and bedroom eyes are staple images of this decade. “Flapper” was originally a British term that emerged after WWI. By the 1926, it was being used frequently in the United States to describe new women who “trot[ed] like foxes, limp like lame ducks, one step like cripples” (Atlantic Monthly, May 1920). These women loved to charleston the night away at speakeasies and were a huge part of Jazz culture. They’re style became increasingly popular as the twenties progressed. As this new type of lady became more and more visible, flappers started popping up in movies. Let’s explore some of the famous flappers of the 1920′s.

Colleen Moore

Colleen Moore was one of the most famous silent film actresses of the 1920′s. She was known for her comedic roles in movies like “Ella Cinders”, a flapper adaptation of the Cinderella story, and “Flaming Youth”, a film which showed youth subculture of dancing, drinking and listening to jazz. Colleen Moore made the image of the flapper more mainstream than it had been before. She helped bring flapper style from the depths of the speakeasies to the public eye.

Clip of Colleen Moore in Ella Cinders

Clara Bow

Clara Bow was one of the most famous memorable faces of silent film. During the 1920′s, she was widely known as the “It Girl”. This nickname came about after her 1927 film “It”, in which she played “Betty Lou”, a young flapper who goes after a known playboy. Betty Lou has plenty of “it”, and thus is able to win her man. “It” came to mean many things. It meant sex appeal, it mean an assertive attitude, it meant many of the characteristics of the flapper lifestyle. Throughout her career, Clara Bow was known for playing spunky ladies who went after what they wanted. She became a symbol of the 1920′s. She is also one of the few silent film actresses who made the transition into “talkies”.

Clip of Clara Bow in “It”

Hello All!

Welcome to the EmersonStage blog of our upcoming production of Tartuffe! I am Julianna, the dramaturg for the show. Over the next couple of weeks my assistant, Sarah, and I will be updating this blog with fun tid bits of info and media relating to the production!

As some of you may know, EmersonStage’s Tartuffe will be a little different than some others you may have seen before. Our play will take place in 1920′s United States. This blog will be devoted to creating the world of the 1920′s. So stay tuned!