HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY Mitchell Milan delivers an energetic performance in the title role of "The Miser," also featuring Jennifer Robideau as his daughter Elise.

17th century French farce
plays well with updates

THERE'S a moment in Hawaii Pacific University's engaging production of "The Miser" when Harpagon, the tight-wad of the story, goes into the audience in search of valuables. As the "fourth wall" of the set comes tumbling down, we can forgive whoever updated Moliere's classic drawing room farce with an uneven assortment of anachronisms. "Is that a scroll in your pants or you just happy to see me?" a female asks a male, briefly yanking the audience from 17th century Paris to a Mae West movie.

"The Miser": Presented by Hawaii Pacific University, 45-045 Kamehameha Highway 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays, through April 24. Tickets are $14 on Thursdays, $20 other performances (discounts available for seniors, military, students and HPU faculty; tickets for HPU students are $3). Call 375-1282.

Moliere wouldn't have included a reference to the Supreme Court when he wrote "The Miser" -- in French, "L'Avare" -- in 1668 either, but that line is good for a laugh and probably true to the spirit of the original. The most distracting anachronisms here are less problematic than uprooting Moliere from 17th century France and transplanting him to contemporary Southern California as another local theater program did with "Tartuffe" several years ago.

Mitchell Milan gives an energetic over-the-top performance playing Harpagon as a shifty eyed man so insanely obsessed with money that he'd make the late Jack Benny seem like a spendthrift in comparison.

How stingy is Harpagon, you ask? He's so stingy that when his watch dogs kill a pigeon, he tells his cook to serve the remnants of the bird for dinner! He's so stingy that the cook must also serve as his coachman and care for the horses! He's so stingy that he's prepared to marry off his daughter to any man willing to take her without expecting a dowry!

Harpagon's daughter, Elise, has plans of her own, of course. So does his high-living son, Cleante, who intends to marry for love rather than money, even if he has to go to a loan shark for the money to live on. Unfortunately for Cleante, his father plans to marry the same penniless woman, Marianne.

True, Harpagon's desire to marry anybody is almost as opaque as the local matchmaker's reasons for persuading him to do so, but the old man's on-again off-again lust for Marianne is the issue in several well-played scenes.

HPU director Joyce Maltby has assembled an outstanding cast in the supporting roles and utilizes their varying levels of experience well. Jeremy Colvin (Valere) quickly establishes himself as a strong comic romantic lead. Jennifer Robideau (Elise) is a versatile and appealing leading lady. Tim Dyke (Le Fleche) and David Starr (Master Jacques) distinguish themselves as abused yet cunning servants. Ariana Griffith makes a memorable debut as the sweet but very ditzy Marianne.

Marcia Zina Mager (Frosine) was a hit with the audience on Sunday playing a bawdy gold-digging matchmaker who flatters Harpagon shamelessly but cruelly mocks his manhood when his back is turned.

Add Zachary Bortot (Cleante) as the foppish son, and John Lozier and Richard T. McWilliams in smaller roles, and Maltby's take on this classic French comedy never loses its focus or momentum.

True, Moliere is as much an acquired taste as Shakespeare, and comes with its own set of dramatic conventions, but anyone unfamiliar with his work will find HPU's production an enjoyable introduction.

Costume designer Peggy Krock emphasizes Harpagon's frugality by dressing Milan in torn and threadbare garments. Even the servants dress better! Robideau is a romantic vision in white; Bortot's hair and clothes clearly define him as a free-spending dandy; and Mager's garish gown is a fashion train wreck that juxtaposes colors not found in nature.

The one problem here -- albeit one likely to be obvious only to those familiar with modern German history -- is that Milan's costume, hair and make-up create a disconcerting resemblance to some of the stereotypical Jewish villains seen in the Nazis' infamous anti-Semitic movies, "Der Erwige Jude" and "Jude Suss." Milan's excellent multi-faceted portrayal of a barely two-dimensional comic character becomes just a touch off-putting as a result.