.:Review:. Tartuffe

Tartuffe and Orgon

Yet another adaptation of Tartuffe has been performed, however this time at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne. Louise Fox who throughout her career has traveled between film, theatre, television, and radio adapted the play using skills she has obviously learnt from her careers in writing, being an actress, script editor, dramaturg and director. Therefore I was eager to see her highly acclaimed production of Tartuffe.

Tartuffe was originally written by Moliere, also known as Jean Baptiste Poquelin; a French playwright who had quite an influence on France. In the original version, the setting is the seventeenth-century in an upper-class home. King Louis XIV, who also has a major influence on the arts in France, and who, in particular, loved Moliere’s work, was in reign during this era. Also, to keep King Louis in his favor, Moliere practically wrote his plays for the King as he was the man who had final say on whether or not Moliere’s plays were appropriate to be viewed in public. Therefore when I went to see Louise Fox’s adaptation of this play, it was interesting to take into consideration who she had written this play for. It was obviously written for a modern-day audience as there was plenty of comic business and even elements of homosexuality.

The characters of Tartuffe were somewhat different than those in the original written by Moliere. Orgon is played by Barry Otto. Orgon recently suffered from a heart attack which explains his absolute belief and trust in God (and it Tartuffe). Throughout the play he is portrayed as a father who trusts a Godly figure (Tartuffe) above the word of his own family.

Barry Otto also plays the role of Madame Pernelle. She is able to walk on and off stage, unlike in the original play where she is confined to a wheelchair. She portrays a snobby back-stabbing Grandmother and mother and shows her wealth in the tone of her voice and the rude comments she makes towards Dorine.

Mariane is played by Laura Brent. She is supposedly in love with Valere but you would never know considering that she is complaining about her own life most the time whilst stomping around the stage. Her Australian accent was rather annoying and quite improper for someone who was supposed to be of a high-class family.

Elmire, played by Alison Whyte, is a seductive character. She is flirtatious with Tartuffe and practically null towards Orgon. She is tanned, botoxed, plucked, groomed, waxed, hair sprayed; everything a stereotypical upper-class mother should be. She showed an amazing amount of energy throughout her whole performance.

Damis is Orgon’s son, he was played by Luke Ryan. Although intensely attractive, his small but bulky body was the perfect portrayal of a ‘dumb athlete’ who had no idea what was happening in the world. However it was interesting to see that after he had come back to the house after being exiled, his character had changed and he seemed to be somewhat intelligent.

Valere was played by Ezekiel Ox. A very interesting character, originally, this character was of Catholic faith, however in this adaptation, Louise Fox has chosen for him to be a Muslim. Not only is he of different culture, but he is also portrayed as being a lower-class citizen in comparison to Orgon’s family. His rapping of his lines was indeed interesting yet still unnecessary, although it appealed to the younger audiences.

Cleante was played by Francis Greenslade, and what an interesting character he was. A Buddhist who spends his time controlling his anger throughout the performance. Like Tartuffe, he is a leech off Orgon’s money. However his character is an interesting one and he really does portray himself as quite harmless.

Ah, Tartuffe. Played by Marcus Graham, Tartuffe is a symbol of a theme in the play; appearance vs. reality. He is a religious hypocrite and quite a con artist when sponging off Orgon’s money. He is very manipulative but obviously is attracted more to older women (who’ve had more plastic surgery) than younger woman as even though he is promised to Mariane, he pursues Elmire for her affections. A very sleazy character who really portrays the stereotypical man in today’s society.

Dorine was played by Rebecca Massey. Apart from the undeniable fact that you had no idea what on earth she was saying because of her Russian accent which I though was unnecessary, you don’t even realise she is a Dew because she simply just does not say it (although if she did I doubt we would’ve understood her anyway). A very unnecessary waste of talent and a waste of an important character through a silly accent.

Peter Houghton played all Laurent, Master Loyalson, the officer and Flipote. He had quite a charisma, which helped him portray all of these characters effectively. As he was making character transitions offstage, his performance style for each character was different for each character on stage. Not to mention he made quite an impressionable modern-day Jesus.

Tartuffe and Elmire

Performance styles were mainly based on Commedia Dell’ Arte, and therefore were very presentational. The performance style and theatrical conventions also tended to be non-naturalistic as the actors included the audience during soliloquies and had musical features such as song and dance.

Michael Kantor was thrown in the deep end after the unfortunate sickness of the former director of the play. Kantor played around with performance styles and theatrical conventions. Although highly entertaining to watch, Mariane and Valere’s love scene was turned from a quarrel of young lovers into a ‘cheesy’ mini musical. They sang “Can’t live without you”, which is a classic love song, but it was painful to see that they had added this song to the scene just to acquire a laugh from the audience, it definitely was not necessary. However, I particularly enjoyed the beginning of the performance in which the family characters strutted all over the stage, immediately showing their wealth and opinions of themselves. It was interesting to realise that Fox had adapted the original family from an upper-class, genuine family into a rich, stuck-up family. Another performance style used in this adaptation of Tartuffe was soliloquies.

Two characters; Dorine and Jesus performed soliloquies, I believe the reason for this is that these were the two characters whom were meant to relate to the audience the most. Jesus’ soliloquy was a mixture of serious key beliefs and fanciful jokes and therefore it was a little confusing about what the actual point was that he wanted to make. Due to the fact that I could not understand most of the Dorine’s soliloquy, it is hard to comment on what exactly she said or how she said it-without including the plentiful amount of saliva she managed to project from her mouth whilst preaching. However both soliloquies were aimed at the audience. Also worth a mention were Cleante’s small asides which were presented to the audience. This was yet another aspect of the commedia performance style as his gestures and voice whilst doing the asides were aimed at making the audience laugh. However, both soliloquies and asides were used in this play and therefore in including them and not having the ‘forth-wall’ convention, Louise Fox and Michael Kantor have achieved non-naturalistic theatre.

Included in the general theme of Commedia Dell’ Arte is ‘clowning’. There was not a lot of physical clowning which could be viewed in the performance but there was a lot of verbal clowning being produced throughout the performance. In fact you could interpret this performance as a farce. It was a comedy and it entertained the audience. It had the basic element a farce such as sexual innuendo between Elmire and Tartuffe, a fast-paced plot and word play conveyed through Dorine, if you could understand her. Then there was the climax in which Orgon’s family discover they are to be exiled from their home. This play is a typical farce, it is just a natural satire on the modern-day wealthy family.

Also, other theatrical conventions included heightened gestures; these were full of energy and kept the audience intrigued, however many heightened gestures tended to be sexual and were somewhat unnecessary in portraying the characters such as Elmire. Although she was meant to be somewhat interested in Tartuffe, she appeared as if she was actually trying to seduce the moment we saw them together. Heightened voice helped the flow of energy and also made the characters individual. An excellent example of this was Marcus Graham as Tartuffe. He portrayed the character as a sleazy, money-loving liar just by the tone of his voice. It was very interesting to understand how the actors/actresses managed to maintain their level of energy throughout the whole play. They commented that they were physically fit, and this benefited them greatly when needing energy to convey heightened voice and gestures. Stagecraft elements and dramatic elements were used to portray many of the theatrical conventions which were intended to be interpreted by the audience.

Lets begin with the first dramatic element; climax. The climax was recognized by a change of lights, music and therefore a change in the atmosphere. Tartuffe also changed his tone of voice, conveying that the play had just turned from happy and light, to serious. There was much conflict in the play, firstly the conflict between Mariane and Orgon as they dispute Mariane’s marriage to Tartuffe. Next can be seen the conflict between the two young lovers; Mariane and Valere. This conflict ties in with the orginal conflict between Mariane and Orgon. After this, there is the conflict between Valere and Orgon over whether or not Tartuffe is as loyal as appears to be. Throughout these conflicts, we see the themes of the play, such as appearance vs. reality, unfolding. The mood was often created by the change in lights and the use of music. The use of bright colored was a symbol that all was still well amongst the characters, however when Tartuffe first enters, the lights dim and the music was changed, therefore creating an eerie mood as the audience evaluated the personality of Tartuffe. Space was limited, but the actors/actresses tended to use it well, especially when performing soliloquies. Timing tended not to be an issue in this performance however the use of tension did help create the climax. As more conflict was established between characters, the tension was increasing therefore the audience knew when the climax was going to occur. However not only dramatic element were used in the creating of this performance, stagecraft elements also played a major role in the creation and success of this performance.

The costumes used in this performance were not elaborate however they did create a symbol. Elmire and Mariane stomped around the stage in high heels and skimpy swim suits where as Damis wore a skin tight bathing suit along with Tartuffe. Orgon was dressed plainly like his brother, Cleante, in shirts and flowing pants and Madame Pernelle was dressed in a skirt and suit top. These particular performers were all wearing white costumes, and therefore showing that they were all connected and a family of peace, in fact the white costumes could also be interpreted as a symbol of purity and wealth. However it was very interesting to note that Valere Filpote/Laurent/Loyalson/Officer (who were all played by Peter Houghton) were not dressed in white. This was to show that they were outside of the family and were perhaps of lower class. Also, when Orgon throws Damis out of his home, Damis is wearing white, however when he returns, he is wearing blue. This could be because Damis has been exposed to a quality of life which was less than he had ever experienced.

Tartuffe

The lighting and sound of the stage changed depending on who was on the stage, for example, when Tartuffe entered the lights went dark and the music changed to heed warning of Tartuffe’s evil character.

The set design was very simplistic. It was a traverse stage, so the sets were based in places in which both sides of the audience could view the performer. On one side of the stage was a door, exiting to the three-storey balconies made from black chrome, and on the other was a gate leading out to the stage exits. There were seven trap doors, six were located on either side of the pool and one was located outside the gate. These were used as multiple exits and entrances for the audience.

After reading the education notes, I was lead to believe that there would be some relation back to the original Tartuffe, whether it be through props, set designs or makeup. However I was disappointed to acknowledge that the only orginal feature of Tartuffe used in this adaptation was makeup which Orgon wore. He had the classic white face and illuminated eyes with eye liner. His lips here painted red, although this had faded by the end of the performance. Whether or not this was to show that Orgon was the only character which had not been completely modified, who knows.

As well as the set design, the props used in this performance were very simplistic. These included, treason papers, contract papers, pool scoop, magazines, headphones, cigarettes, towels, champagne, Ipod, floties, an inflatable horse ring, mobile phones, packages, vales, boxes and sunglasses. Although simple, they were all used effectively. Perhaps the use of minimal props and a simplistic set design was due to a budget cut.