I confess to not having read Molière since my secondary school, and I know I’d have liked it much better if we’d had the Northumberland Theatre Company’s adaptation to study instead of the original. Not sure what was going to expect me yesterday evening in the little theatre/old fashion cinema house in the small town next to my village, I entered the venue prepared to be surprised. And I really was. Positively.Tartuffe is a hilarious and outrageous classic. He is a roguish imposter who worms his way into the orderly household of prosperous yet naive merchant Orgon. He sets out to marry the daughter, seduce the wife, imprison Orgon and get his hands on the family fortune.
NTC give Tartuffe’s exposure of hypocrisy a daft, no-nonsense, north of England feel, fused with the physicality of Commedia dell’Arte and flooded with a sunshine that really warms.
The ensemble of seven actors is continuously involved as eavesdroppers and gossips when they’re not whisking off a mask to revert to a major part. Synchronised moves, gestures and responses give a corporate feel of everyone being in this together
The play descends almost into farce in the second half, with trousers round ankles and spies under tables. The pace is faster too with all the plot complexities out of the way, galloping to a triumphant climax. It was a very entertaining night out in a community venue, all the more reason to question the loss of NTC’s entire Arts Council funding from next April. I really hope they survive.
