Orgon (Grant O'Rourke) has taken pity on the poverty stricken, devoutly pious and dog-collar wearing Tartuffe (Andy Clark) and charitably taken him into his household. It's the women of the home - Orgon's young wife Elmire (Nicola Roy) and housemaid Dorine (Joyce Falconer) who see the incomer for what he is, a hypocrite and a con man. Convincing Orgon of the peril he's placed himself in is another matter. Who, once they've convinced themselves to be in the right, will listen to others pointing out their mistake? What lengths will the women have to resort to make Orgon see the truth?
Clark's Tartuffe is a man of oiled hair and insincere smiles, whose lechery is never far beneath the surface, seeing Elmire as another easy conquest to be blackmailed into carrying out his desires. Orgon's complacency and cluelessness are both comical and exasperating, but his wife is elegant and smart and resistant to the manipulation of the supposed religious man. Falconer's sassy wifie provides the narration to fill in the gaps, and her own hard headed dose of realism to help bring down the gaslighting seducer.
If you've no understanding of Scots you may struggle with the language. But if you can attune your ear it's a joy to listen to, the rhyming couplets a mix of natural language and poetic sensibility, full of fun and verbal trickery. The cast do a great job of extracting the humour, turning up the melodrama at appropriate points, dialling it back as needed. And Moliere's moral lessons have never been more pertinent. If you've been conned once it's better to admit it than carry on digging a deeper hole. A perfect metaphor for brexshit.
Wonderful stuff.
Tartuffe is on in the Assembly Rooms until 25 August.
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