Tartuffe, or
The Hypocrite

by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière

Moliere’s famous farce of hypocrisy and manipulation is told with biting wit and escalating absurdity in a modern English, rhymed translation by Richard Wilbur. Never you mind that it was written three-plus centuries back. There are still plenty of con men like Molière’s Tartuffe, and plenty of preening souls just like Orgon, who’d sell all to have their egos stroked - in other words, plenty of glass houses still standing in the world, and of course, Earth’s never short of stones. This play is as contemporary as they come, and a LOT of fun!

Synopsis
Orgon, a wealthy bourgeois with a mild streak of disloyalty to King Louise XIV, has fallen under the spell of Tartuffe, a swindler masquerading as a holy man. Orgon’s wife (Elmire) and two children, as well as the rest of the household, all see through Tartuffe’s deception and try to disillusion Orgon, but he steadfastly remains deceived. He even orders his daughter to break her engagement to the one she loves and marry Tartuffe. Only when Orgon observes Tartuffe’s attempt to seduce Elmire does he see Tartuffe for the scoundrel he is. But it may be too late: Orgon has already made presented Tartuffe a deed of gift of all that he owns. Only the intercession of the King himself can save Orgon now.