Timothy Mooney and friends brought the antics and comedic skits of French playwright Jean Baptiste-Poquelin de Molière to the Mt Hood Community College’s Visual Arts Theater Wednesday. Using scenes from the plays “Don Juan” and “Tartuffe,” Mooney used wild gestures to help theater lovers of all ages help understand the comedy that is Molière.

The small auditorium was filled from high school English students to elderly theater veterans. Mooney kept the crowd’s attention through costume changes and explanations of each scene. To keep the momentum high, Mooney pulled two students from the crowd to assist him in two of his scenes. Along with venturing into the crowd, everyone laughed and participated through each act.

Mooney has tailored 15 Molière plays and performed them all over the world. A Chicago native, he wrote the act “Moliere than thou” from his version of the plays. “People enjoy this much more in monologue.” Mooney said. “I’m more of a theater, actor, director.”

“His craft is remarkable.” said Tom Ten Eyck, a fellow theater enthusiast, commenting on Mooney’s performance. “The craft of the comedy is remarkable.”

“We need to make this annual!” said Aurora Rojo Beneati, a Spanish instructor at MHCC. “He’s one of the best acts in a long time.”

Eric Tshcuy of the Modern Languages speech department coordinated this event. Tshcuy said he was impressed with Mooney’s performance when he saw him perform in Chicago a few years ago. He is hoping to make this type of event annual.

“Everyone was impressed with the vivacity and the great acting talent of Mr. Mooney.” said Tshcuy the next day. “I wish to thank all of you for the support and encouragement that you have given me as I was preparing for this event and thank you also for making yesterday’s success a reality.”