Tartuffe @ New York Theatre Workshop

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The Play: Tartuffe; the second version this fall—this one a post-modern adaptation—of the 17th century satirical farce about a hypocritical holy man who tries to dupe a wealthy family out of its fortune  

Written by: Moliere    Adapted by: Lucas Hnath        Directed by: Sarah Benson

One good thing: Tapping into the contact list of great comic actors she assembled during her nearly two decades heading up Soho Rep, Benson has put together a cast of downtown faves—Lisa Kron, Emily Davis, Francis Jue,  Ryan J. Haddad, Amber Gray—who all look to be having great fun swishing around in Enver Chakartash’s over-the-top costumes and performing Raja Feather Kelly’s intentionally fey choreography. Even Matthew Broderick—simply dressed in Pilgrim drag and giving his usual deadpan performance—seems to be having a good time as the titular scoundrel

One not-so-great thing:  The revised script: too many of its rhyming couplets are predictable, too few of its jokes are as witty as they need to be and its over-reliance on contemporary profanity is disappointingly tiresome

 

 


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