Tartuffe
Tartuffe
Starring Paul Anderson & Audrey Fleurot
The play will be performed in both English and French with surtitles throughout.
Inspired by current world events, award-winning playwright Christopher Hampton has freshly adapted Moliere’s comedic masterpiece.
In the title role of this thrilling new adaptation of Moliere’s classic comedy is Paul Anderson, known for his star turn in the hit drama Peaky Blinders.
He will be joined by celebrated French stage and screen star Audrey Fleurot (Spiral, The Intouchables) as Elmire and French screen star Sebastian Roché as Orgon.
What Is Tartuffe About?
L.A. Present day. French media tycoon Orgon has re-located to Tinseltown with his family, his heart set on becoming Hollywood royalty. With a new studio to his name, and a palatial Beverly Hills mansion, his empire seems infallible. But all is not as it seems as Orgon falls under the seductive spell of Tartuffe, a radical American evangelist. So comprehensively has Tartuffe hoodwinked Orgon that he looks set to steal his fortune, drive away his son, seduce his wife and marry his daughter.
Penned by Academy, BAFTA and Olivier award winner Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons, Art, Atonement), and directed by the former dramaturg of the French People’s National Theatre, Gerald Garutti, Tartuffe will premiere as the West End’s first ever dual language theatre production, alternating between English and French with surtitles throughout.
- Booking Information
(The play will be performed in both English and French with surtitles throughout).
Audrey Fleurot will not be performing on all dates, the role of Elmire will be played by Sophie Duez on the following dates; June 4, 8, 14, 19, 22, 28; July 3, 5, 9, 10, 20, 27
- Duration
2hrs 30 with interval
- Good To Know
Audrey Fleurot will not be performing on all dates, the role of Elmire will be played by Sophie Duez on the following dates;
June 4, 8, 14, 19, 22, 28
July 3, 5, 9, 10, 20, 27
The appearance of any particular artist cannot be guaranteed. If in doubt please check with the Box Office before booking.
Additional Details & FAQ
- Cancellation Policy
No exchanges or refunds available after purchase.
- How Does It Work
You will receive a confirmation email. Please print this email and bring it with you and present to the Box Office. We recommend you arrive a minimum of 30 minutes before the show.
- Suitable For Children
The show is recommended for 12 years + . Parental Advisory is advised as there is a scene of sexual nature.
- Where Do I Go
Theatre Royal Haymarket, 18 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HT.
By Tube: Piccadilly Circus; Leicester Square or Charing Cross Tube Station
Reviews
A theatre goer.
Aug 13, 2018
Well put together and presented, very enjoyable.
MirandaJ
Jul 30, 2018
As a Moliere fan I very much enjoyed the classic French element to the production but the English part added a dynamic touch and the changes to the text worked incredibly well, especially with Tartuffe himself. The super talented cast made the evening.
Geoff
Jul 27, 2018
Wanted to see this famous French play and also the actors Audrey Fleurot and George Blagden, prev. seen in television series Spiral and Versailles resp. We felt the play would have been better in English or even French with subtitles, as the regular changes between the two languages did not work well. Other cast members seemed to out-act the actors we went to see and we particularly thought George Blagden was miscast in his role, although Audrey Fleurot had presence.
Porter Hawkins
Jul 27, 2018
Excellent production , brilliantly acted by a great cast . I would recommend it highly.
C Martin
Jul 24, 2018
I enjoyed the play very much but I am found the subtitles/surtitles distracting. I don't like productions in anything other than English. I have tried productions in other languages and you don't get the full benefit of the play/acting. I fully appreciate the argument that the play was in French to start with!
C
Jul 22, 2018
Tartuffe remis au goût du jour! Great mix of French and English, fab actors keeping the classic whilst bringing Molière in our century!
Catherine
Jul 19, 2018
We really enjoyed Tartuffe. The bilingual production was fascinating and its contemporary setting in modern day LA worked well. Great to see Audrey Fleurot on stage!
Catherine
Jul 19, 2018
We really enjoyed Tartuffe. The bilingual production was fascinating and its contemporary setting in modern day LA worked well. Great to see Audrey Fleurot on stage!
ST
Jul 16, 2018
I was left speechless. The performances from every single actor, especially Paul Anderson who played Tartuffe blew me away. I loved that both English and French was used. Very clever.
Titi
Jul 13, 2018
Great play, amazing acting , strongly recommend if you are bi-lingual , go with an open mind.
Virginia
Jul 5, 2018
Very good. Only disappointment was ... Audrey Fleurot was not in it, she was replaced by Sophie Duez.
Lauren
Jul 4, 2018
A wonderful and very creative interpretation! Well done!!!
Kate Park
Jul 1, 2018
I am a huge fan of Paul Anderson and so was looking forward to seeing this play. Unfortunately due to the dual language and subtitle format, you spent most of the time looking at the screens to the side reading the script instead of enjoying the acting on stage. The very wordy and fast dialogue in French meant that a lot of the humour was lost and I missed whole sections of text. It made it all a bit of a mess. It was also extremely empty for even a matinee and I felt very sorry for the actors as they were obviously a talented cast.
Diana dawson
Jul 1, 2018
Excellent
Jules 23
Jun 30, 2018
This is the first time I have seen Tartuffe but on the advice of my french teacher decided to give it a go! I was not disappointed and Audrey Fleurot is wonderful! What a beautiful, talented actress! It is half in french and half in english with subtitles easily visible. I would even consider seeing it again! Go, allez, go!
John
Jun 29, 2018
Challenging but really enjoyable. Love the switching from French to English. Brilliant cast fantastic set.
Yvonne Selka
Jun 28, 2018
It was really funny, modern and very well acted. I’d recommend it to anyone , but know the story before you go in as that allows you to follow the French part more easily .
Alison Payne
Jun 24, 2018
I'm not sure how Christopher Hampton convinced the producers of this production that is was ever going to work....or why no one pointed out in the process that it wasn't! The French and English production jumping between languages continuously makes sure the viewer will never be able to settle into the storyline or the beautiful verse (in the French dialogue) at any point. The actors have been driven to perform at 'full hysteria' volume from the outset robbing the play of any sense of building in the plot or tension. Dreadful production of a fabulous play. I will need to see another just to exorcise the experience!
Elizabeth
Jun 23, 2018
I really enjoyed the production. The acting was excellent (in spite of Audrey Fleurot being replaced as Dorine by her understudy who did really well). The relocating of the play to Los Angeles worked well for me. The references to Trump in the closing scene were clever and amusing. The interchange between French and English was intriguing, if initially slightly disconcerting. The English surtitles conveyed the original French faithfully and skilfully. I was disappointed that there was no indication in the programme of where one could access the translation as I would have been interested to study it in more detail. The lukewarm reviews have done a disservice to the cast and production team.
Mike Molan
Jun 23, 2018
My wife studied Tartuffe for her degree and loved it. When I saw it was being put on in the west end I booked tickets as a treat - without thinking it was possible to produce a poor version of this classic. How wrong I was. We went to see it last night. It was, by some margin, the worst thing I have ever seen in a theatre. Appalling in every way. We wavered in the interval about whether to stay or vacate our £70 a piece seats. On balance we stayed on the basis that it could not get worse but if it did we would be witnessing something very special. Well, we did and it was. Dreadful staging, wooden acting that would make a sixth-former blush. Characters randomly switching between English and French - subtitles needed to follow the script when they did pointlessly switch into French . A pointless re-staging in Trump era LA - complete with utterly clunking joke appearance by a Trump like president in place of the French king at the end - pathetic attempts at satire being met with forced raucous laughter from isolated French pseudo-intellectuals dotted amongst the by now sparsely populated stalls. It was the utter nadir of condescending metropolitan nonsense. It was the first time I have ever sat at the end of a play with my arms folded refusing to applaud any element of what I had witnesses. To my wife's obvious discomfort I was unable to suppress my urge to say "utter utter shite" several times too loudly for comfort as the very modest applause (think about the sound that two dozen nudists would make simultaneously sitting on hard chairs and you just about have it) died down. I was actually rendered speechless by the awfulness of the whole thing as we walked back to Waterloo. Then it dawned on me. Was this a "Producers" type scam? I felt like the audience members walking out of Springtime for Hitler. Maybe they sold 5,000% of the production? What ridiculous metropolitan bubble of self-inflated ponces must these people inhabit to even countenance a production of such self-regarding and pretentious idiocy? Well the moral of the story is read the reviews first.
Julie
Jun 22, 2018
Amazing play, the switch between languages was flawless and there was logic to which character spoke in which language. The translation is very good and the modernisation does justice to the original and the critiques of powerful frauds. The actors are all amazing and switch effortlessly and beautiful from language to language. Their comedy and characterisation transcend language anyway. The character of Dorine, in particular, was well-played and a breath of fresh air throughout the whole play. The subtitles take maybe 10 minutes to get used but after that it was fine. They were clear and easy to read, the subtitle panels were well-placed.
Marie E
Jun 17, 2018
This production of the play has blown us away with the wit of the new setting of this old timeless classic. The staging and cast were phenomenal. However the real star of the play must go to the director who cleverly rewrote a classic to create a captivating piece of theatre. His direction of the sensational cast, including the actress who played Dorine who was our personal favourite, along with the amazing switching between English and French astounded! Thank you for putting on a truely mesmerising piece that we loved and would rewatch.
Dan C
Jun 15, 2018
Well done adaptation with an amusing modern day twist at the end.
Sue Dufour
Jun 15, 2018
Although the actors worked their socks off and an incredible amount of bilingual script to learn - and very helpful subtitle boards to help us! it was essentially a bit of a mess. Nobody understood the concept of the box room. What the hell was that? I'm very aware of this play, Christopher Hampton's work and a couple of the French actors and, of course, George Blagden. Theatre was less than half full (if not for the teenage school group it would have been embarrassing). I hate to sound narrow about "experimental theatre" but this play works so well in one language in 17th century costume - please don't do this again. It did result in much discussion between the audience on the way out - most of it not very favourable. A really typically sarcastic critic's remark would be "brave". Moliere doesn't need "courage" en francais or anglais.
brian rotman
Jun 15, 2018
An inventive, successful and very enjoyable bilingual production of Moliere's great play spoiled by the cheap -- I presume tourist-pleasing -- and patronising inclusion of topical references to Trump etc. As if we needed to have the play made relevant. I can't imagine such being added to a Shakespeare script.
Garrick39
Jun 15, 2018
I think on paper the concept works but not in reality. Arranged marriage in contemporary LA wouldn’t happen and so the main premise didn’t work despite the actors best efforts. I bought the tickets mainly to see Audrey Fleurot and when I purchased them there was NO notice or warning that she would not be performing on certain days and of course my tickets ended up being on one of those days. I ended up leaving at intermission despite paying £84 per ticket because I was so angry that I was not advised about her not performing that day. I found out later that the ‘Deux et Machina’ element was Donald Trump and as an American living in London I go to the theatre for an escape not to be reminded I have a President who is intent of turning my country into a dictatorship. Ruined afternoon on many levels for me I’m afraid.
Molly Cooper
Jun 14, 2018
An innovative idea, though I don't think the switching of languages helped - it seemed to slow things down. The acting was good. and the production was lively. Elmire, in particular, was very well played.
Emily
Jun 14, 2018
The modern setting worked well. Excellent acting. My only drawback was that I dont speak French and the subtitles from the third front row were difficult to see - whilst watching the play at the same time.
Kuldip Dhaliwal
Jun 14, 2018
All good except its better if understand french. You miss the action if you have to read subtitles. Otherwise it was a excellent play.
Margaret
Jun 14, 2018
It was an interesting idea, but transferring 17c France to 21c California just didn’t work: a confusion of social attitudes about religion, relationships between parents and children, and morality, combined with a sometimes dizzying shunt between Moliere’s French and current English. Tartuffe wasn’t strong or skilled enough to hold it together; I was disappointed.
Carys Jones
Jun 14, 2018
Excellent. Funny and well-acted with an excellent rapport between the characters. Some challenging switches between French and English but artfully managed.
Jeremy
Jun 14, 2018
Having read this play for A Level French some years back, I was looking forward to a modern adaptation of it with the very capable cast. I enjoyed it, but would have enjoyed it far more if it were not constantly changing between English and French dialogue. I’m sure it was ok for the fluent bilinguals in the theatre, but I needed to consult the surtitles quite often and found this distracting.
Vee
Jun 14, 2018
Can't imagine why on earth the critics slated this version of Tartuffe. The acting was superb. So innovative to have a play in two languages with subtitles to follow if needed. Overall excellent.
Penelope
Jun 14, 2018
Do not know whether changes have been made to the production since the hostile reviews on first performances. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening. It seemed others did too. It is true it takes a while to get used to the bi-lingual approach, but enables the audience to hear the beautiful French poetry AND to understand it! The acting was superb, and the pace great. Do go, all concerned deserve enthusiastic support.
Gavin Griffiths
Jun 14, 2018
I go to the theatre a lot and this was by far the best play I have seen this year- the mixture of English and Moliere's french (surtitled) worked brilliantly. The balance between comedy and pathos was kept in perfect equilibrium by a cast whose timing was impeccable. I cannot recommend this production too highly!
Xavier B
Jun 14, 2018
Some good acting but messy play with strange ending.
Daniela
Jun 14, 2018
Tartuffe is one of my favourite plays but unfortunately this adaptation did Moliere's genius absolutely no justice. The interchanging French and English lacked raison d'être and didn't add any substance to an already incredibly rich play. Moreover, the adaptation to what seems to be modern-day America came across as simplistic and frankly, naf, both in its aesthetic and in referencing Trump through obvious choices like the unnecessary use of "grabbing pussy". More thoughtful and tasteful decisions would've been equally deciphered by the audience whilst actually raising questions instead of trying to spoon feed what by now seem to be perfectly obvious answers.
Suzana
Jun 14, 2018
Not much to say really, it is an average play in French and English, slightly difficulty to follow and switch from one language to the other unless you are a native speaker of at least one of the 2.