Daniel Vigilante
Sandra 1
Michael ItaliaTheatre: Tartuffe
Theatre Review
Malthouse Theatre - March 2008
Lousie Fox’s adaptation of Moliere’s most notable play, Tartuffe, is a testament to the true genius of his talent; namely, that it can be adapted 350 years later and still be as cutting edge, savage, and obscene as it was for the courts of King Louise XIV in 17th Century France. And the obscenity is brilliant. There is just enough of it to keep it on the side of tasteful tastelessness, without bowing down to the iniquities of something truly and detestably vulgar.
Director Matthew Lutton has the large cast interwoven and choreographed so as to make full use of the set (wonderfully adorned with a single lane marble pool in the middle) and gives everyone their chance to shine. And while it may be called ‘Tartuffe’, played by a big name actor like Marcus Graham, there are a number of stars in this play and it would be unduly to single out any one performance.
A quote from the play runs roughly like this: “Just as the highest and lowest notes in music are equally inaudible, so too the highest and lowest sense is equally unintelligible.” While a synopsis of the play will not elucidate what makes this play so entertaining, quotes like this may be extrapolated upon to explain what themes Moliere likes most: bourgeois values, religion, business sense, civil society and properness, and then infusing such virtues with hypocrisy and duplicity. Its scathing indictment of all the above is just as pertinent in contemporary society, and it only takes a small amount of liberty with the script to seamlessly insert the Gaza Strip and eBay.
The ultra modern adaptation sees avant garde theming and fanciful notions of sex brought to the fore, as well as some hilarious renditions of modern classics from Brian Adams to David Lee Roth. Mammal frontman, Ezekiel Ox, makes his debut acting gig at the Malthouse a side-splitting one, and even includes a riotous duet with the lovely Laura Brent. Barry Otto as Orgon is thrilling and holds every scene like the king-pin thespian that he is, while Alison Whyte, as his licentious wife, is to die for. Rebecca Massey and Peter Haughton are in equal parts sensational, which holds fidelity with my overall opinion of the play.
Malthouse Theatre - March 2008
Marcus Graham as Tartuffe
Lousie Fox’s adaptation of Moliere’s most notable play, Tartuffe, is a testament to the true genius of his talent; namely, that it can be adapted 350 years later and still be as cutting edge, savage, and obscene as it was for the courts of King Louise XIV in 17th Century France. And the obscenity is brilliant. There is just enough of it to keep it on the side of tasteful tastelessness, without bowing down to the iniquities of something truly and detestably vulgar.
A quote from the play runs roughly like this: “Just as the highest and lowest notes in music are equally inaudible, so too the highest and lowest sense is equally unintelligible.” While a synopsis of the play will not elucidate what makes this play so entertaining, quotes like this may be extrapolated upon to explain what themes Moliere likes most: bourgeois values, religion, business sense, civil society and properness, and then infusing such virtues with hypocrisy and duplicity. Its scathing indictment of all the above is just as pertinent in contemporary society, and it only takes a small amount of liberty with the script to seamlessly insert the Gaza Strip and eBay.
Marcus Graham and Barry Otto
