The highlight of my trip to Stratford was the presentation of Moliere's Tartuffe. Last season I was able to see The Hypochondriac at Stratford. It was terrific and terrifically entertaining, and I jumped at the chance to see Tartuffe this year. When purchasing tickets and keeping all performances within my trip window, it turned out that I would be there for opening night. Tickets were scarce and I was farther back than I would have chosen otherwise (and seated behind a large head, as it turned out), but no matter. Sometimes one has to make sacrifices!
The stage set in the Festival Theatre was not overly lavish, but it fit the production well. Moliere was transported into a modern setting, and so the set included a furnished bar area upstage and a furnished den area downstage. Multiple doors led offstage, and the stairs upstage led to the second floor of the family home.
The entire cast for this production was tremendous. Tom Rooney in the title role and Graham Abbey as Orgon were notables. Tartuffe was particularly slimy and conniving. Clad in black cassock (except for a brief disrobing scene that included a moonshot for part of the audience) with long hair and an Eastern European accent, Rooney's portrayal was hilarious. Abbey as the paterfamilias was the perfect foil for Tartuffe. Torn between his family and his religious mentor, his fits of stuttering comic bluster were well-played indeed! Also noteworthy was Anusree Roy as Dorine. She stole nearly every scene in which she was present, displaying a sensible attitude that contrasted beautifully with Orgon and Tartuffe.
The script for the play was a modern translation by Ranjit Bolt. I was struck immediately by the rhyme scheme. Though it is a French play, the rhyming was maintained in translation, which seems to me to be quite an achievement. At times it felt forced, but that added to the humor. For this particular production, Moliere's text was modernized even further. Several contemporary references to the current political climate in the United States appeared. Here were characters speaking of "fake news," "alternative facts," and even "covfefe," all the while keeping them in rhyme and meter.
The action of the play was hilarious and kept me laughing throughout the evening. Sight gags were aplenty. A large, hollow divan and a bean bag chair were used to conceal a spying Orgon, the latter less stealthy but funnier. A facial moisturizer mask was laughably disturbing (or disturbingly laughable). One memorable scene was likely unplanned. As Tartuffe's manservant exited through the bar, he clinked together the bottles of wine he carried. Two of the bottles hit a bit too hard and broken glass and wine ended up on the stage. Dorine and Elmire entered and reacted to the mess, using it for comedy while managing to clean it up and not break character or the play's flow.
Bravo to Chris Abraham and the cast for a wonderful evening of theatre! Tartuffe sits firmly atop this year's four-pack of plays.
No comments:
Post a Comment