Tartuffe is described as ‘A scalpel-sharp comedy looking at the lengths we go to find meaning – and what happens when we find chaos instead.’ The play is watched through a grand living room representing the 1%.
The plot of the story is about the family in ownership of this living room, their housekeeper and a homeless man who is mistaken for a holy man named ‘Tartuffe’. The story has comedic intentions but a message of trust and the recognition of those who are not as fortunate as others intertwines itself into the production.
The list of actors includes Kevin Doyle, Kitty Archer and Dennis O’Hare; you may recognise Dennis from ‘American Horror’ Story or ‘True Blood’ but Tartuffe was not his first time on stage. Dennis has performed on Broadway in productions such as ‘Take me out’ or ‘Cabaret’ to name a few.
The play which was 2 hours and 40 minutes long (including the interval) was also extremely interactive with the 4th wall regularly broken and an on-going joke with the front row.
Tartuffe is based off of the 17th century French satire original, we see this modernised in the national theatre but with remaining elements of nods to French culture in the décor and some of the costuming. The satirical element is very hard to miss with slap-stick comedy rampant in the production with cleverly written jokes which were delivered with ease by each actor. Each character played a contrasting character to the next with the underlying acknowledgement of the characters own flaws and personality.
Overall Tartuffe at the National Theatre was an extreme success and is an exceptionally clever rendition of the 17th century classic.
