translated by Curtis Hidden Page
adapted and directed by Preston Lane
No matter how you say it, it's funny.
Orgon is a very happy man. He has a lovely family, a beautiful new wife, an incredible fortune and a spiritual advisor who promises him eternal bliss. Unfortunately, he is about to lose it all. He’s fallen into the trap of a pious imposter, the hilarious hypocrite Tartuffe. Preaching piety, two faced Tartuffe is plotting to steal Orgon’s fortune, marry his daughter, seduce his wife and take over his home. Can anything stop him? Triad Stage presents one of the world’s funniest comedies and dares to shake up a theatrical classic to find its very contemporary heart.
Any way you translate it, Triad Stage’s Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite is a riotous blast from the past. Who’d have thought a 300-year-old play, a French one at that, could feel so fresh and sharp? If you’re expecting a throwback to 17th century France, when the play was written, get over it. This is French playwright Molière, himself a 17th-century version of a stand-up comic, molded into Steve Martin.