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It can feel chic or impishly subversive, but in John Donnelly’s fresh version, apparently set in the present, the prevailing mood is one of farce. Denis O’Hare plays the title character, a New Age guru who has insinuated himself into the Highgate household of Kevin Doyle’s neurotic and unscrupulous Orgon.
When we first see Tartuffe, he’s dispensing flowers to the audience, acting like a mystic. It’s a while before he appears again, and by the time he does so, washing himself with the contents of an ice bucket, we’re in no doubt that Orgon’s family is wildly dysfunctional. Kitty Archer as his daughter Mariane is especially confused, and only a suave Hari Dhillon as his brother-in-law Cleante comes close to being a voice of reason.
Most of Orgon’s family regard Tartuffe not as the answer to their problems, but as a weaselly con man. Yet O’Hare gives this so-called imposter a nicely measured mix of creepiness and twinkly charisma. A deliberately wonky accent suggests, intriguingly, that he could just as soon be from Paris, Poznan or Penge.
Blanche McIntyre’s lavish production takes a while to exert its grip. But the physical comedy is handled well, notably when an almost unrecognisable Olivia Williams as Orgon’s sharply stylish wife Elmire tries to trick Tartuffe into seducing her. Gradually, too, Donnelly’s political anger becomes clear. Amid the broad humour and cheeky topical gags, there’s a sense of the hazards of inequality and the ugly ways society treats outsiders.
Until April 30
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