‘Manege Moliere’: Three Slapstick Skits With Insight

In “Manege Moliere,” an impeccably realized trio of Moliere’s classic comic sketches, Interact Theatre Company honors the playwright’s freewheeling satirical sensibilities--without the mannered staginess that bogs down less insightful revivals.

Director-translator Louis Turenne and his superb cast appreciate Moliere’s genius in marrying the broad slapstick of commedia dell’arte with more refined aristocratic French comedy. They consistently find the core of truth beneath the playwright’s caricatures and silly (and sometimes sloppily constructed) plots.

The company members contribute convincing archetypes to the mix from which Moliere drew his recurring characters. Lance Davis delights as the trickster servant who outwits his social superiors. Mary Jo Mecca shines as the street-savvy wife. As a letter-perfect plodding pedant, James Gleason hilariously supplies the favorite targets of Moliere’s scorn--doctors and lawyers. Other well-cast paradigms include the jealous, downtrodden husbands (Leon Russom, Doug Ballard); an ingenue in for a bumpy romantic ride (Megan Zakar); her pompous, mercenary father (Gregory White); her naive suitors (Michael Manuel, Josh Adell); and the levelheaded maid (Susan Hull).

Brisk pacing and deft comic delivery help the flimsy plots take wing: Davis’ servant posing as a doctor to prevent a loveless marriage (“The Flying Doctor”), Ballard’s suspicious drunkard outwitted by Mecca’s cunning wife (“A Jealous Husband”), and widespread mistaken intentions and identities arising from a misplaced locket (“Sganarelle”)--this last benefiting from Richard Wilbur’s verse translation, whose meter and rhyme the cast handles without a trace of artifice.

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* “Manege Moliere,” Interact Theatre Company, 11855 Hart St. North Hollywood. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Nov. 14. $20. (818) 773-7862. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.