Oceanside Restaurant Launches
Dinner Theater Program

PAM KRAGEN
Staff Writer
(©North County Times. Used by Permission.)

What started as a French class field trip has turned into North Countys newest dinner theater program that combines the classic comedy of Moliere with gourmet French dining.

A Taste of Europe restaurant, which opened two years ago in south Oceanside, is now offering a dinner theater program every other Thursday evening. French comedies are performed to the accompaniment of a three-course French meal.

The program was created by Daniele A. Arnaud, a French professor at MiraCosta College, who calls the fledgling project Theatre de Poche."Poche" means pocket in French, a reference to the theaters tiny stage in the restaurant.

Since launching the program May 27, restaurant co-owner Maureen De Long said response has been very good. The program will continue through July. If interest is high, the program will be extended indefinitely and new plays will be added to the repertoire.

The group is now presenting the fourth act of Moliere's "The Miser" (L'Avare), one of the 17^th-century playwright's best known works. The 1668 play centers on Harpagon, a greedy old man who loves money more than his family.

In the play's fourth act, Harpagon has buried a money box in his garden. When the box is stolen, he accuses his new servant, Valère, of the crime. Valère is actually a nobleman who has disguised himself as a servant in order to secretly court Harpagon's daughter, Elise. When Harpagon accuses him of stealing his "treasure", Valère becomes confused and suspects he's been found out.

Molière, born Jean Baptiste Poquelin in 1622, produced more than two dozen plays and ballets in his lifetime, including "Tartuffe," "Don Juan", "The School for Wives", and "The Imaginary Invalid". Molière's plays were hugely popular with the public but controversial with political and religious leaders because of their occasional skewerings of the church, royalty and class divisions. Most of his works, however, were light comedies that poked fun at human traits such as hate, ignorance, greed, snobbery and hypochondria.

"The Miser" is being presented in English, has been adapted to modern language and has been edited down to about 30 minutes, De Long said.

The script adaptation was written by Arnaud and the restaurant's maitre d', Federico Serhalawan. Arnaud, an ex-model and actress, also stars as the play's moderator, a masked harlequin. Arnaud's friend, Suzanne Ferond, directs and helped sew the show's costumes with Serhalawan. Mary Lou Gombar, a drama professor at MiraCosta, assisted by holding auditions and selecting the actors.

The idea for the dinner theater program occurred after Arnaud approached De Long several months ago with an idea to bring her students to the restaurant for an authentic French meal.

De Long, who co-owns the restaurant with Europeans Josef Eberl and her fiancé Otmar Staab, was happy to oblige by creating a French menu for the group.

The dinner was such a success that Arnaud suggested they collaborate on a dinner theater program with a French flair.

Dinner service begins between 7:30 and 8 p.m. and the performance begins at 8:45 p.m. Diners have their choice of beef, fish or poultry entrees as well as soup or salad and chocolate mousse dessert. Tickets are $29.95, plus tax and tip. After the performance, the unpaid actors pass the hat for donations as well.

A Taste of Europe is open for dinners from 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and for Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.