Photo by Ben Horak
Bob Verini – Stage Raw
South Coast Repertory’s Tartuffe is something to witness, in every sense of the phrase. Audacious and thought-provoking, maddening and enlightening by turns, it’s a worthy addition to the venerable company’s anniversary celebration in its categorical refusal to follow a conventional pathway to the classic that kicked off SCR operations a half-century ago. Read more…
Now running through June 8.
Bob Verini - Arts In LA
For Tartuffe to achieve maximum comic, emotional, and thematic impact, the privileged Orgon must serve as the central figure. He must be a misanthrope (a type not unknown to Molière) well and truly disgusted with the world’s vanities as typified by his frivolous, feckless family. Orgon’s profound despair explains his retreat into excessive piety, and it’s what renders him vulnerable to the spell of a seemingly holy visionary. Read more…
Now running through May 24.
Photo by Craig Schwartz
Don Shirley – LA Observed
Con artistry requires the ability to get the victims to suspend disbelief – the same quality that theatrical artistry usually requires of audiences. Read more…
David C. Nichols – LA Times
“Tartuffe” returns to A Noise Within’s repertoire after 22 years, and it proves worth the wait. Molière’s deathless assault on religious hypocrisy could hardly be more pertinent at present, which gives Julia Rodriguez-Elliott’s elegantly quirky staging an extra soupçon of satirical thrust. Read more…
Now running in rep through May 24.