Seventeenth century theatrical conventions can be tough on 21st century audiences used to fast-moving action films with undefined characters and underdeveloped plots.

Tartuffe does not appear in the 400-year-old play that bears his name until after intermission – one full hour into the show. The anticipation was almost unbearable during Penobscot Theatre Company’s season opener, “Tartuffe.”

Yet, William Groth’s subtle and sublime performance as Moliere’s sanctimonious con man was well worth the wait for the squirming theatergoers unaccustomed to so much exposition. Every time he took the stage, the New York-based actor exposed the conniving charmer with a slight smirk and smarmy countenance.

His portrayal, matched by the mostly local actors who made up the supporting cast, along with fine costumes, set and lighting, established a high standard for the rest of the season. With this production of “Tartuffe,” director Mark Torres again proved his ability to make the classics fresh and accessible to a modern audience.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, the man who would become France’s most renowned playwright, was born in 1622, the son of one of eight men who tended the king’s furniture. Because of his father’s station, the young Poquelin had the opportunity to be educated in the finest schools and got an inside look at the lifestyle of the aristocracy.

He fell in love with a Parisian actress, joined a theater troupe and took the name Moliere, probably to spare his family embarrassment over his chosen profession. “Tartuffe” or “The Hypocrite” caused an uproar in France when it was first performed and was banned because the playwright’s criticism of hypocrisy was interpreted as a condemnation of religion.

Essentially, “Tartuffe” is about the undoing of a con man. Torres moved the play from its setting in the mid-1600s to the early 1800s. While this saved the company money on wigs and costumes, it seemed unnecessary and robbed the actors of the opportunity to use canes, handkerchiefs and ruffles in bits of comic business.

The experienced Groth set a professional standard the other actors worked hard to meet, but never quite achieved. Nicolle Littrell as the maid Dorine came closest. She rode the play’s rhymed verse like a girl delighted by the ups, downs, twists and turns of a roller coaster. Little in Littrell’s recent performances with the Belfast Maskers hinted the actress was capable of the bravado portrayal she gave in “Tartuffe.”

Andrew Lyons, well known to University of Maine theater audiences, played Orgon, the gullible aristocrat who falls under Tartuffe’s spell. While Lyons mined every drop of physical comedy from the role, he also portrayed the subtle undercurrent that explained why Orgon, a man ignored and disrespected by his family long before Tartuffe’s arrival, would be so easily taken in by the hypocrite.

As the swooning young lovers Mariane and Valere, Jennifer Schneiderman and Putnam Smith were sweet without being sanguine. Julie Lisnet, Kae Cooney, Thomas Cook, Kent McKusick, Tina Cote, Zachary Field and Kenny Volock, subbing for Rich Kimball, rounded out the cast. They were the best and most equally matched ensembles to appear in a PTC production in several seasons.

Despite its slow beginning, the fine cast and Torres’ penchant for finding modernity in the classics made “Tartuffe” one of PTC’s finest season openers since Torres took the reins 10 years ago.

“Tartuffe” will be performed at the Bangor Opera House through Sunday. For ticket information, call 942-3333.