It’s such a welcome pleasure to once again hear poet Richard Wilbur’s gorgeously elegant verse translation of The Misanthrope that one can almost, but not quite, overlook the general blandness of the Pearl Theatre Company’s revival. While Moliere’s 17th century comedy has lost none of its sharpness or power to amuse, this overly tame production hardly serves as a proper introduction to this too rarely performed classic.

Company regular Sean McNall stars as Alceste, the titular character who suffers fools badly and who can’t restrain himself from telling the truth to the fops and hypocrites surrounding him, consequences be damned. Declaring that he plans to “break with the whole human race,” he suddenly finds his principles tested when he falls in love with the beautiful but shallow Celimene (Janie Brookshire), the gossipy darling of the Parisian social scene who is fawned over by leagues of male admirers.

For some reason, director Joseph Hanreddy has updated the action to the 18th century, a curious choice since the playwright was pointedly satirizing the shallow conventions of the court of Louis XVI. And while it’s admirable that his restrained staging avoids the sort of overly broad comedy that too often afflicts productions of Moliere’s works, the proceedings are far too enervating.

Part of the problem is McNall’s performance. The actor is normally very reliable, but his too understated turn robs his character of the delicious outrageousness that normally provides the play of much of its humor. Equally underwhelming is Brookshire’s coquettish Celimene, although admittedly the actress looks smashing in Sam Fleming’s handsome costumes.

The supporting performances are mainly fine, with Kern McFadden particularly amusing as Oronte, the self-styled poet whose verses Alceste can’t help but nastily deride.

While the Pearl can’t be overly criticized for their inevitably modest production values, Harry Feiner’s set design is particularly underwhelming, looking more like a California patio than an elegant Parisian drawing room.

City Center Stage II, 131 W. 55th St. 212-581-1212. www.nycitycenter.org.