Rachel Botchan as Mme. Orgon and Bradford Cover as Tartuffe; photo by Gregory Costanza. Pearl Theatre Company (at Theatre 80 St. Marks) offers a new production of Moliere's Tartuffe, and it is luscious. This production uses the Richard Wilbur translation, by far the best English verse translation, and the actors, virtually all regulars of the Pearl repertory company, are fluent and well paced in verse delivery even in previews.
The director (Gus Kaikkonen) has opted for broad physical comedy, a lot of pratfalls, and it really seems to captivate the audience; I have seen the play in drier and more "classical" productions in the past, with greater emphasis placed on Tartuffe's religious hypocrisy. Here, however, the emphasis is on ribald comedy, not political or theological satire.
Ordinarily, the Pearl's sets are quite spartan, but on this occasion they have managed lush set design and lighting for the opulent hall of Orgon, the affluent and gullible man who sacrifices his family's well-being out of devotion to the pious swindler and hypocrite Tartuffe. The regulars of the Pearl company are out in force for this gleeful comedy: TJ Edwards, Bradford Cover, Rachel Botchan, Sean McNall, Robin Leslie Brown, Dominic Cuskern, and Carol Schultz.
Embarassment of riches, there is another adaptation of Tartuffe in NYC on stage right now -- at the South Street Seaport. I have not seen it. According to nytheatre.com, it's in modern dress with a modern adaptation/translation. The publicity says "Moliere spun his comedy from the stock characters of Commedia, and Mr. Cohen spins his from the golden era of American comedians and films." I haven't seen it, but would be delighted to hear from anyone who has seen that version.
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