The departmental play at the Mississippi School of the Arts willshowcase talented actors performing a satire on 17th century eliteon April 26-28, and again May 3, 5 and 6.

Dr. Robert Brooks, who is directing the play, said this year thecast seems to have a few more juniors than seniors.

“We’re a little junior-heavy this year,” he said. “But we havean extremely talented cast of both juniors and seniors.”

The performers will present “Tartuffe,” by Moliere, which is a17th century French comedy of manners. In layman’s terms, thatmeans it makes fun of the people of the French elite.

“By saying that it’s a comedy of manners, we’re saying itfocuses on the upper class in the ‘Miss Manners’ sense of theword,” said Brooks. “It pokes fun at how they focus on fashion andsociety and things of that nature.”

The students have been holding rehearsals since late February,and seem to be gelling well, said Brooks.

“The central figure is Orgon, who is the male head of thehousehold,” said Brooks. “He has brought Tartuffe into his house,because he’s someone who has been impoverished and homeless, andOrgon is impressed by his morality.”

As it turns out, Brooks said, Tartuffe is faking it in order totake advantage of Orgon’s generosity and wealth.

“At one point Orgon gives Tartuffe his daughter’s hand inmarriage, and Tartuffe is making passes at his wife,” said Brooks.”He’s taking advantage of the family, and some of them see it andsome of them don’t.”

Therein, said Brooks, lies the crux of the problem.

“The plot revolves around the conflict of seeing this man as aphony,” he said.

While the era the play is set in might make the language alittle archaic, the translation from the French version was done in1985, so Brooks said it shouldn’t be hard to follow.

“The language is very poetic, but the humor is very physical,”he said. “So it helps in the comprehension.”

The impressive thing, he said, is how well the students haveadapted to the roles and brought their own personal touch to eachone.

“I think the actors bring very unique personalities to each ofthese roles,” he said. “It’s very funny. Definitely come preparedto laugh.”

Admission to the play is $5 for adults and $2 for students, andit will be held at Johnson Institute on the MSA campus. Theproduction is at 7 p.m. each night, except Sunday, May 6, whichfeatures a 2 p.m. matinee.