‘Tartuffe,’ Y’all; Moliere Classic Gets Alabama-Set Makeover At Birmingham’s Virginia Samford Theatre

By Alec Harvey

For director David McMahon, his production of “Tartuffe,” which opens Friday at Birmingham’s Virginia Samford Theatre, has been a long time coming.

We’re talking a few decades, from when he first performed a scene from Moliere’s classic 17th-century comedy while an undergrad at Birmingham-Southern College.

“I did a scene from the play in the brilliant Alan Litsey’s acting class,” he says. “Alan always encouraged us to make material our own, and my scene partner, Marlee Davis, and I set it in the South. I was shocked at how well it worked. So I’ve been loosely kicking around the idea for more years than I care to admit.”

McMahon went on to graduate school at the University of California-San Diego, appeared at theaters such as Actors Theatre of Louisville and the La Jolla Playhouse, and then turned to a career in film, directing the documentaries “Bayou Blue” and “Skanks” (the latter is a behind-the-scenes look at a Birmingham theater production and is screening at festivals all over the country).

After directing “The Taming of the Shrew” last year at the Virginia Samford Theatre, McMahon, who lives in New York, set his sights on “Tartuffe.”

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