Don’t let its age or its venerable status fool you – Tartuffe is not boring. The traveling company Theatre de la Jeune Lune breathed life into Moliere’s comedy at the Fine Arts Center on Thursday.

The scene is the Paris house of Orgon, a wealthy man. His family is discussing the impact of his father’s newest house guest, fastest friend and the bane of their collective existence. Only the falsely pious grandmother, played hilariously by Charles Schuminski, believes that Tartuffe is good for the family. Orgon has become so entranced with Tartuffe, whom he believes to be as pious as a saint, that he invited him into his home and provides for all of his wants and needs. He is convinced that by bringing him into the family, Tartuffe will save all of their souls by his Puritanical and, as it turns out, tyrannical behavior.

Orgon returns from a trip, silencing the talk of Tartuffe. As the family retreats to their respective parts of the house, Orgon inquires after his guest, not caring that his wife has been ill or his children discontent. It is clear that what the family has been saying is true: Tartuffe holds complete sway over the patriarch of the house. But the real manifestation of his power comes when Orgon orders his daughter Mariane to marry Tartuffe and forsake her fianc