RED BANK, NJ — From November 15 – December 3, Two River Theater Company will present Tartuffe, Molière’s classic comedy about the power play between religion and politics. This will be the world premiere production of the adaptation by acclaimed playwright Constance Congdon. Director Jane Page has chosen this adaptation for how easily she was able to move the production from 17th Century France to modern day Texas. This production marks the first time in TRTC’s 13 year history that the company will produce the world premiere of a theatrical work. Founder & Executive Producer Robert Rechnitz captured the company’s excitement about the project and stated, “Our production affords Two River the rare delight of having our cake and eating it, too. Molière’s Tartuffe is one of world theatre’s greatest comedies while our English translation of the play has never before been performed, thereby presenting us one of our heart’s desires, a world premiere.”
Adaptor Constance Congdon received her MFA in Playwriting at the University of Massachusetts in 1981. Her most well-known play, Tales of the Lost Formicans, has been produced over 100 times throughout the United States, including in NYC by the Women’s Project. Her plays Casanova and Dog Opera were both produced at the Joseph Papp Theater in NYC. One of her most recent plays, Lips, was commissioned by Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks through Playwrights Horizons, and was produced at Primary Stages in New York in Spring 2004. Congdon is an alumna of New Dramatists, a member of PEN and currently teaches playwriting at Amherst College. Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America, calls Congdon “….one of the best playwrights our country, and our language, has produced.”
Molière’s original version of the play was written in French and first produced in 1664. The play was considered rather controversial and was finally censored by the French government during the reign of King Louis XIV because it portrayed the country’s devout religious sects as hypocrites. As the play begins, the well-off Orgon is convinced that Tartuffe is a man of great religious zeal and fervor. In fact, Tartuffe is a scheming hypocrite. By the time Tartuffe is exposed and Orgon renounces him, Tartuffe has legal control of Orgon's finances and family, and is about to steal all of Orgon's wealth and marry his daughter.
The cast for the world premiere production will include Steve Brady as Monsieur Loyal (national tour of The Exonerated with Lynn Redgrave), Ray Chambers as Tartuffe (Alabama Shakespeare Festival resident actor), John Halbach as Valere (Tartuffe on Broadway), Hollis McCarthy as Elmire (Chicago-area stage veteran), Erik Steele as Cleante (Tartuffe on Broadway), Matt Steiner as Damis (national tours of The Three Musketeers and Macbeth), Wendy Rich Stetson as Dorine (Hamlet, Tartuffe, and Cymbeline for Public Theater/NYSF), John C. Vennema as Orgon (film version of The Producers), and Jane Welch as Madame Pernelle (Off-Broadway in Lily Dale opposite Mary Stuart Masterson). The cast is rounded out by recent graduates Rachel Moulton as Flipote (Syracuse University), Andrew Pastides as The Officer (North Carolina School of the Arts), and Morgan Rosse as Mariane (College-Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati).
The production will feature scenic design by David Barber, lighting design by Phil Monat, costume design by Thom Heyer, and sound design by Kevin Dunayer.
Tickets are $30 - $54 and available by contacting the TRTC Box Office at 732.345.1400 or online at www.trtc.org. |
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