Yards of pastel taffeta ruffled about the stage but did not detract from the sidesplitting performances by USI Theatre students during the opening night of “Tartuffe.”

The Molière play begins with Orgon in his Parisian home, where is his daughter Mariane is betrothed to the pompously perverse Tartuffe.

Each character was draped in loud but luxurious pieces that spoke volumes about the theatre’s costuming capabilities. USI student AJ Jones headed the costume design and elegantly constructed what is probably the program’s most ambitious couture.

My only quibble with the attire was Dorine’s (Aimee Grace) costume, which resembled what would happen if a pop-punk princess fell into a lace curtain while sporting an old fashion shower cap then vomited on herself.

This outfit may be why Grace stumbled out of the gate—not literally, of course—although she quickly recovered and as the play went on and gave a pleasing performance.

Wrapped in her silky cloud of obsidian, Madame Pernelle (Ashliegh Lane Dulik) visits Orgon, her son, at the start of the plot. Dulik ruled the stage with poise and a knee-wobbling leer that seared through her gothic makeup.

Despite her tickling stage presence, the rest of the on-stage cast blundered toward the play’s commencement. They recited Molière’s lyrical lines in a bit of a singsong that detached them from their acting.

But that didn’t last long and the cast soon struck their rhythm and created one of the tightest chemistries I’ve seen from a university production.

Cameron Ward as Cléante delivered his delightful, fast-paced lines, accentuated by dainty wrist movements, with an ease and power that would hold up against an episode of “Gilmore Girls.”

Taylor McKee and Craig Belwood played Mariane and her beau, Valère. McKee’s hysterical antics were spot on and meshed seamlessly with Belwood’s melodramatic tantrums. The two were authentic comedic compatibility.

Andrew Duvall’s performance as Orgon, although spotty, was strong and believable.

He shone brightest in his funny moments, both intentional and when he acted through a run in with a pesky and un-adhesive mustache.

Maximilian Spears also proved particularly comical as the Orgon’s ego-inflated son Damis, who carried a big sword that failed to mask his shrill shrieks.

Elmire was new(ish) terrain for Enjoli Drake, who usually slays dramatic roles bringing the audience to tears, as she charmingly flashed her silly side, among other things.

Finally there’s the uncomfortably droll Tartuffe played by Austin Tenbarge, whose permenantly arched eyebrow was persistently on point in a way that gave new meaning to the term stink eye. Tenbarge successfully disgusted the audience on a godly, or godless may be more appropriate, level as the falsely religious suitor.

Director Eric Altheide should be proud of his accomplishments with “Tartuffe,” as he has taken campus theatre to new heights.

Despite the play’s ambitous dialogue the plot fumbles and comes to an anticlimatic halt at its conclusion that not even the best actors could have spiced up without a complete re write.

On its opening night, the cast of “Tartuffe” may have started a little rough, but they  quickly tightened their needles, stitching together a whimsical, fabulous even in its flaws, and impressive production.