Tartuffe

Roger McGough after Moliere

About the Production

Creative Team
Cast

ADAPTED BY		Roger McGough
DIRECTOR		Gemma Bodinetz
DESIGNER		Ruari Murchison
COMPOSER		Conor Linehan
SOUND DESIGNER		Fergus O'Hare
LX DESIGNER		Colin Grenfell
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR		Dan Coleman
MOVEMENT		Bernadette Iglich
COSTUME SUPERVISOR		Jacquie Davies
CASTING		Ginny Schiller

TARTUFFE		Colin Tierney
ORGON		Joseph Alessi
DORINE		Annabelle Dowler
MADAME PERNELLE		Eithne Brown
MARIANE		Emily Pithon
VALERE		Hiran Abeysekera
ELMIRE		Rebecca Lacey
DAMIS		Ilan Goodman
CLEANTE		Simon Coates
LOYAL/OFFICER		Alan Stocks

Plot

Tartuffe is a beacon of piety and in the home of wealthy merchant Orgon he has his feet firmly under the table. But all is not as it seems and as Orgon becomes more enraptured with is new companion the whole city is chattering. Is he a friend, a fraud, a miracle or a hypocrite?

The family smell a rat and amidst the frills and frivolity of Seventeenth Century society they hatch a cunning plan to outwit the wily deceiver before he brings their house crashing down.

Banned by Louis XIV, Tartuffe is Moliere's famous comedy re-told in a sparkling and witty version by 'Liverpool's Poet Laureate', Roger McGough, and was originally commissioned and produced by Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse in 2008.

Production Photographs

Rehearsal Photographs

Video

Latest Reviews

Press Reviews
Your Reviews

...An absolute delight from start to finish...
The Public Reviews - Ipswich
...possibly the funniest show of the year...
East Anglian Daily Times
A total delight...
The Argus
...Clarity is an essential when delivering drama in verse and barely a word or joke was lost despite the audience roaring with laughter throughout...
Latest 7 - Brighton
...an enjoyable and thrilling night...
GScene
...The production was superb. The adaptation was incomparable. The acting was first rate and the direction outstanding. If you don’t want to take my word for it, ask the audience who gave it an ecstatic round of applause at the (inventive) curtain call...
The Public Reviews - Brighton
...ETT must be the best touring company in the country, but here they excel themselves, with not a single aspect of the flawless production disappointing ...This Tartuffe is in so many ways a masterclass and a masterpiece – sheer perfection...
West Sussex County Times
...irresistible comic momentum...
The Stage
...It's very much an ensemble piece, with the whole company giving spirited and energetic performances, and the Newcastle audience loved it. So did I!
The British Theatre Guide
Time Out
...A ribald, pungent pleasure that presents a richly funny portrait not just of the timeless figure of the conman, but of family life. Gemma Bodinetz’s bright, brisk revival for Liverpool Playhouse and English Touring Theatre is a twinkle-toed delight…

...The ensemble playing is terrific, and McGough’s verse, packed with cheeky rhymes, anachronisms and running gags, is breathtakingly exuberant. Bodinetz handles the mounting frenzy with an aplomb that makes her staging a real treat – elegantly executed, and enormously entertaining...

The Times
...a sure-fire hit...something very special...
The Cambridge News
...Screamingly funny...
What's on Stage (second review)
...Fast-paced and full of laughter - spend time in the company of Tartuffe as it's a perfect evening out...
What's on Stage
...Slick, superb writing from McGough...the ensemble cast triumph... (9/10 Encore!)
Click Liverpool
...It is clear to see that every member of the cast have a real love for the piece, a passion and energy that transcends across into the audience from the opening beat to the final curtain call. This is an ensemble at their finest, performing with finely tuned precision...
The Public Reviews - Liverpool
...The cast – 2/3rds original, but headed up with a new Tartuffe (Colin Tierney) – simply dazzles...it is in short, a triumph...
Seven Streets
IT’S back and – you can release your breath now – Tartuffe is just as good as ever....

...newcomer Hiran Abeysekera as the over-sensitive, overthrown fiance, Valere, is brilliantly funny – one of the highlights of the play...

Liverpool Daily Post
...it’s hugely enjoyable, the infinitely inventive, clever and at times tongue-in-cheek cheesy verse driving the pace along merrily from one delicious set piece to the next...(9/10 Enchanting)

The Liverpool Echo
...Tartuffe is a cracking piece of theatre... (10/10)
Liverpool Confidential

I travelled to Ipswich to see this production last night. Absolutely hilarious! Every single actor was perfect in his/her part. The scenery was superb and the music evoked the times. Roger McGough's interpretation really brought Moliere's play alive. This is the first time I've seen ETT and I can't wait for the next production to come to Ipswich (or even better, Colchester).
A King

Saturday 17th September in Liverpool, Tartuffe was a complete delight. The cast positively sparkled with joie de vivre in this incandescent production. The adaptation was superb (but what else would you expect from Roger McGough?) Everything about this production shone; from the unobtrusive golden set which showed that uncluttered does not mean uncultured to the lighting which never descended into tricksy games with the audience. A standing ovation underlined the enjoyment, laughter and warmth this production engendered. Marvellous.
Paul McGowan

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