Molière’s comic masterpiece brings us a con artist extraordinaire who oozes piety and charm. Will Tartuffe’s hypocrisy be discovered before Orgon’s household is turned on its head? Enjoy lightning-quick wit, star-crossed lovers, a badgering grandma and a plot that could be ripped from today’s headlines – or a Saturday night comedy show. Associate Artistic Director Karen Lund directs Tartuffe which opens tonight and runs through March 3.
Molière believed that, “As the duty of comedy is to correct men by amusing them, I believed that in my occupation I could do nothing better than attack the vices of my age by making them ridiculous…” and wrote to the King, “since hypocrisy is, without doubt, one of the most common, the most harmful, and the most dangerous of these, I thought, Sire, that I would render no small service to all the honorable men of your kingdom if I were to make a comedy that would discredit the hypocrites and present all the artificial gestures that these worthy folk display…”
“The more I read it, the more modern it feels,” director Karen Lund said about this powerful story of grace and hopes the audience will, “take a kernel of truth about life” while falling in love with the stylized absurdity that comes to life on stage through various forms of comedy—the hilarity of physical slapstick to Richard Wilbur’s smart translation of Molière’s play on words. Wilbur’s version stays true to Molière’s rhyming verse, writing the entire play in rhyming couplets.
The production features a talented cast of Charissa Adams, Don Brady, Ryan Childers, Solomon Davis, Nathan Jeffrey, William Hamer, Frank Lawler, Ruth McRee, Jesse Notehelfer, Charity Parenzini and Josh Smyth. The production team includes scenic and sound designer Mark Lund, costume designer Sarah Burch Gordon and lighting designer Roberta Russell. Anne L. Hitt serves as stage manager and David Anthony Lewis as dramaturg.
Following Tartuffe, Taproot Theatre presents Freud’s Last Session, running March 21 through April 21 (opening on March 23).
Photo Credit: Matthew Lawrence
