A collection of over 160 of Molière's funniest monologues in new rhymed iambic pentameter versions by actor/author Timothy Mooney (author of "Acting at the Speed of Life" and "Molière than Thou"), drawn from new versions of seventeen of Molière's plays, including "Tartuffe," "The Misanthrope," "Don Juan," "The School for Wives" and "The Imaginary Invalid." The book works as introduction to the life and work of Molière, as well as providing a rare resource of new comic classical monologues for the actor preparing to audition. The text gives thorough introduction to each of the seventeen plays, with introductory plot capsules, as well as contextual information for each individual piece, making each monologue and each play easily graspable to the actor that needs to know why he or she is speaking these particular words, and to the scholar eager to find out why these plays caused such a sensation surrounding the man often dubbed as the "French Shakespeare." The book includes a distilled version of Mooney's acting text, with essential guides toward the performance of classical verse monologues, and provides stopwatch-timings of each piece, as a guide for actors who are working under specific time limits. The volume features a preface by William Luce (author of "The Belle of Amherst," and "Barrymore"), and illustrations by David C. Jensen. From the cover: Nail That Classical Audition! Everyone has seen your Comic Shakespeare Monologue a million times! MOLIÈRE TO THE RESCUE! The Big Book of Molière Monologues brings you over 160 New Molière Monologues! Classical Monologues they haven't seen before! You get winning insight into seventeen Molière plays, and an understanding of the funniest playwright who ever walked the boards! With precise stylistic/acting advice from adaptor and master actor, Timothy Mooney, you can showcase your classical abilities a their very best! Everything you need to know about Molière, and... The Bourgeois Gentleman The Critique of the School for Wives The Doctor in Spite of Himself Don Juan The Flying Doctor The Imaginary Invalid The Learned Ladies The Love Doctor The Misanthrope The Miser The Precious Young Maidens Monsieur de Pourceaugnac Sganarelle or The Imaginary Cuckold The Schemings of Scapin The School for Husbands The School for Wives Tartuffe "A masterwork... I've never seen a better compilation." (William Luce, Author, "The Belle of Amherst," "Barrymore") "Mooney's translation may well be the star of the show... A comic theatricality that sweeps through Molière's panorama of humor-- from high to low." (Back Stage West) "The listener can draw all the available pleasure from the splendid speeches penned by the man considered the French Shakespeare!" (Winnipeg Free Press) "One of the most creative and refreshing pieces of classical theatre I've seen in years... Mooney's translations were crisp, stylized and sang with the comic genius of the playwright's original intent." (Chattanooga Pulse) "The ingeniously constructed, teasing rhymes add a rich overlay of stylistic repartee... Mooney's impressive literary efforts make the ancient piece less stuffy and more theatrically alive... Molière would doubtless have enjoyed all of the contemporary guffaws that Mooney's irreverent version of this timeless comedy provokes from a modern audience." (Chicago Tribune)
Timothy Mooney, author of the new acting textbook "Acting at the Speed of Life; Conquering Theatrical Style" (described as an "exceedingly valuable... essential resource" by the Theatre Library Association) has given over a hundred thousand students their first introduction to Molière through his one-man play, "Molière Than Thou," which he now presents alongside his new one-man Shakespeare play, "Lot o' Shakespeare" (featuring one monologue from every Shakespeare play). Mr. Mooney is the former founder and editor of The Script Review and was the Artistic Director of Chicago's Stage Two Theatre, where he produced nearly fifty plays in five years. When Stage Two turned to the classics, Mr. Mooney found himself writing new versions of the plays of Molière, with an impish sense of rhyme. He has now written seventeen iambic pentameter variations of the plays of Molière, produced around the world. High School productions of Mr. Mooney's "The Misanthrope," "The Miser," "The Imaginary Invalid," and "Tartuffe" have gone on to state finals in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama, while his "Doctor in Spite of Himself," took third place in the Scottish Community Drama Association National Festival, and was a finalist at Italy's Sanremo Global Education Festival. Mr. Mooney continues to present his one-man shows across North America, including visits to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he has presented both Moliere Than Thou and Lot o' Shakespeare, as well as festival presentations around the United States and Canada. His newest one-man play, "The Greatest Speech of All Time," will be opening in May, 2012.
