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Babergh School Review
Hayden Carpenter - 27th October 2011
THE English Touring Theatre's (ETT) production of Tartuffe at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, was a well-staged, deeply thought-provoking and humorous show.
The play,written by the controversial French playwright Molière,is set in Seventeenth Century Franceand explores how religion plays a part in the life of the rich merchant, Orgon who befriends Tartuffe, a man of the streets who becomes his humble, pious, advisor. Orgon's wife and family are sceptical about the new friendship, as they fear there is more to Tartuffe than meets the eye.
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The Public Reviews
Paul Couch - 26th October 2011
There's an element of The Emperor's New Clothes to Molière's Tartuffe, and poet Roger McGough's adaptation in no way dumbs down the story of the gold-digging vagrant who fools nobody but his benefactor; indeed, if anything, McGough's treatment makes an already popular piece wholly accessible even to those who may not be familiar with the work of one of Paris' most respected sons.
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East Anglian Daily Times
Andrew Clarke - 26th October 2011
If someone suggested to you that the most enjoyable way of spending an evening would be watching a 17th century French play about the evils of the church and its cynical manipulation of the effete ruling classes, you would be forgiven for feeling sceptical. But, you would be wrong.
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The Stage
Mark Shenton at Richmond Theatre - 6th October 2011
"What is it about this interloper/ that makes you commit faux pas after faux pas?", Joseph Alessi's Orgon is asked of the misguided trust he places in Tartuffe, the man who inveigles himself into his life and family. Tartuffe not only secures the deeds to Orgon's house, but even the hand of his daughter in marriage, though she's already engaged to someone else.
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The Public Reviews * * * * *
John Roberts at the Liverpool Playhouse - 14th September 2011
It has been a bit of a desert of mediocrity In theatre land around Merseyside over the last few weeks, from the big budget spectacular of Batman at the Echo Arena, to the undercooked and almost inaudible Romeo & Juliet at St George's Hall, to the long running but severely misguided We Will Rock You at The Empire Theatre, so it is with a huge sigh of relief that mediocrity has been blown out of the water with class and heart thanks to The Liverpool Playhouse and the English Touring Theatre, who have restaged and produced Gemma Bodinetz's hit 2008 production of Tarftuffe for a welcome revival (Although I have to admit to not seeing the original production.)
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Click Liverpool
Angela Johnson at the Liverpool Playhouse - 14th September 2011
One good reason to happily kiss goodbye to the summer months is the Playhouse's autumn season, opening with Molière's classic comedy Tartuffe.
Surrounded by controversy when first performed in 1664, the Parisian playwright's satire was immediately banned in a bid to avoid misinterpretation by the feeble-minded masses.
Happily for the modern masses (feeble-minded or not) Litherland-born poet Roger McGough, much loved by generations for his trademark scouse humour, produced a fresh adaptation of the 17th Century French farce to celebrate the Capital of Culture year.
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Liverpool Daily Post * * * * *
Laura Davis at the Liverpool Playhouse - 14th September 2011
IT'S back and - you can release your breath now - Tartuffe is just as good as ever.
Tartuffe, the Capital of Culture homegrown highlight, has returned to the Playhouse stage with all the fizz, philandering and farce of its previous incarnation.
New to the cast is Liverpool-born actor Colin Tierney as the not-so-holy man himself. Eyes wide and long fingers clasped, he seems gripped in a permanent state of fervour - though it's more lustful than religious.
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Liverpool Echo
Catherine Jones at the Liverpool Playhouse - 14th September 2011
TARTUFFE proved to be one of the dazzling highlights of a Capital of Culture year full of memorable moments.
And three years on, Roger McGough's take on Molière's 17th century farce, revived for this Playhouse centenary season, remains a box of delights - an assortment packed with hazelnuts in caramel rather than coffee creams.
Molière penned his original work in verse, and McGough's reworked rhymes and rhythms turn out to be as wily as the titular Tartuffe, a cod-pious chancer who tricks his way into the household and affections of the gullible merchant Orgon.
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Seven Streets
David Lloyd at the Liverpool Playhouse - 13th September 2011
Look, we're not even going to attempt a single rhyming couplet in this review. How could we, when we've just sat through a masterclass?
Let them raze the Everyman to the ground and rebuild it. I'll not shed too many tears over its functional, bum-unfriendly form. But let anyone moot taking a wrecking ball to the Playhouse and I'd sellotape myself to the safety curtain with some improvised device of mentos and coke bottles. It is a perfect little theatre. And Tartuffe, with its strong ensemble cast, handsome set, whip-smart script and sure-footed, sublime direction is tailor made for it.