Dazzled, naïve, trusting Orgon worships “Tartuffe”, an apparently pious and perfectly virtuous man who speaks with divine authority but is in fact ruthless and deeply corrupt. Orgon is Tartuffe’s puppet and he will willingly turn over his wealth and even his daughter to Tartuffe in a spell of zealous fervour.
His girly-girl daughter shows her claws and puts up a bit of a fight, she’s in love with some loathsome wet rag already, and so the race is on to expose Tartuffe before Orgon signs everything away. Thus begins a hiding-behind-the-curtain kind of situation comedy. With endearing silliness it’s snappy, snazzy, and well-executed, if a bit uninventive.
The melodrama unfurls with delightful rhythm, the sets and costumes are lurid, it’s all pretty over-the-top. It’s almost like watching a cartoon and, thigh slapping and audience involvement aside, it has more in common with a pantomime than anything else. Perhaps this is one to bring the family to.
The enduring appeal for this play is that it’s one in the eye for the clergy, once you’ve got that aside what remains has precious little substance. The plot ends on an unsatisfying Deus Ex Machina, it’s hard to connect with anyone, and it basically isn’t actually that funny.
3/5 
Bernie Greenwood
