"Learned" lampoons

Times change, but in essential ways people don't. So it's not such a stretch to realize that foibles Moliere nailed in the 17th century still need tweaking in the 21st. Or in 1934 Paris, where "The Learned Ladies" ("Les Femmes Savantes") is set in California Lutheran University's production of the noted satire.

The contemporary (1991) translation and adaptation is fresh and snappy, with the special appeal of familiar, casual speech that may strike some as un-Molieresque, but which suits the student performers and audiences. Translator Thomas meets the playwright's biting wit with a quick and amusing way with language that makes the play accessible, yet maintains the import of the original's critique of intellectual pretension and the limited choices of even wealthy women.

Director Michael J. Arndt complements the text by keeping the verse dialogue running at a merry pace. He also creates delicious visual comedy with servants who constantly trip, a suitor who literally falls in love and a dotty aunt who appears in a wacky tutu, dons ballet slippers and without missing a beat of the fast-flowing conversation adds dainty steps en pointe or other quirky ticks to her repertoire.

The CLU cast takes this all in good stride, though not quite with total assurance on opening night. But the elements are so right that the show can only be better in final performances, beginning tonight.

The plot centers on young Henriette, daughter of Chrysale and Philamente (Moliere's names have not been tinkered with), and her suitor Clitandre, who had previously pursued her bookish sister, Armande, but been rejected by her in favor of her solitary intellectual path.

The center of the salon ferment is the young women's mother, Philamente, who encourages a series of pseudo experts and artistic poseurs to consider the home their base. She is urged on by her sister-in-law, Belise, who not only embraces every fad but also feels the faddists are longing to embrace her.

Philamente's husband, Chrysale, is a good-hearted bloke but a wimp when it comes to women, particularly his wife; his brother Ariste is considerably more grounded. Much-put-upon servants are Martine, roundly pounded verbally for not bringing her language skills up, and the tumbling Lepine.

The most conspicuous houseguest is Trissotin, whom the women find arresting in his artistic supremacy, mostly indicated by his Bohemian attire and lavish narcissism, and later by his wretched poetry. He is joined later by a fellow artiste, Vadius, who actually seems to have talent and common sense.

The cast, listed in the program as "characters in order of intelligence," catches the spirit of the fun and create appropriately outsize characters while never losing track of the satirical points. Kristen Bradshaw's Philamente is imperiously certain of her judgment, about art and life, and manages to accept with aplomb the hilarious sideshow of Belise, portrayed with dizzy finesse by Sarah Kasten. Kelly Derouin's Henriette is the most "normal" one of the family, but manages to flesh out her obedient-daughter role with a firm sense of purpose and a dash of independence. Cortney Palm hews to Armande's intellectual goals, but manages to show flashes of what she might be missing in her single-minded search. As the suitor Clitandre, Zach Gallen shows a sense of comic style that enlivens the proceedings.

Joshua Banday plays the sycophant Trissotin with lavish pomposity and T.J. Alvarado sets them all straight as Vadius, and in disguise as a pseudo-judge. Daniel Perkins is the insecure Chrysale ("I'll be a man in spite of everyone") and Quinn Rossi is the sensible brother who solves the family problems. Anna Potter and Jeff Opine are the put-upon servants.

The characters mesh and clash on a set that extravagantly captures the pretentiousness of the family home. Hairstyles and costumes evocatively capture the styles of the '30s.

But it's Moliere's perceptive take on certain elements of society that keeps his plays relevant, century after century.

California Lutheran University presents Freyda Thomas's adaptation and translation of Moliere's "Les Femmes Savantes" through Sunday in the Preus-Brandt Forum on campus, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks. Performances are at 8 tonight through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. For tickets, $10, call 493-3415.