Denis O’Hare to make National Theatre debut in Tartuffe
Denis O’Hare is to make his National Theatre debut playing the title role in John Donnelly’s new adaptation of Moliere’s comic masterpiece Tartuffe.
Denis O’Hare is to make his National Theatre debut playing the title role in John Donnelly’s new adaptation of Moliere’s comic masterpiece Tartuffe.
Romola Garai is to play the title role in Ella Hickson’s play The Writer when it premieres at London’s Almeida Theatre from 14 April – 26 May 2018.
Blanche McIntyre, whose revival of As You Like It now at the Globe, uses every trick in the book to make Shakespeare’s play clear (it is, very), risqué (it is, very), engaging (it is, almost always) and funny (it is, often). There is music, dancing, cross-dressing, the carcass of a deer, lusty jostling, a tap-dancing clown, and a cross-dressing God of Marriage. There is much for the groundlings to delight in, as well as a few “oohs” and “awws”.
It’s a symphony of wit and wisdom wrapped up in a puzzle, a puzzle which is shattered and then, like a fiendishly difficult jigsaw puzzle, is put back together piece by piece. There are no unanswered questions at the end, no conundrums to ponder about the narrative. Stoppard ensures that everything works and that the humour and humanity of the piece is the lasting impression.
McIntyre directs with careful, thorough assuredness, avoiding the easy trap of treating the material like the melodrama it could so easily become, preferring instead to focus on true and believable characterisation and detailed, intimate, and utterly believable situations and exchanges.