Introduction to Tartuffe

Frontispiece for Tartuffe or The Imposter (1682 edition)

Dear Patrons,

I am delighted that Daniel Fish, one of the finest directors of the classical repertory in this country, will be directing McCarter’s production of Molière's Tartuffe.  I first encountered Daniel when he was remounting Michael Kahn's Much Ado About Nothing for us here at McCarter in 1998, and all of us felt he might just be a wunderkind.  When an opportunity arose to hire a director for The Learned Ladies, I thought of Daniel and wanted to give him his own production.  I was impressed by his acute understanding of the text, his beautiful staging, his sharp eye and his deep commitment to create theater that impacts the lives of those who attend.  Shortly after, he directed McCarter's production of The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde's comic masterpiece.  I have attended many fine performances of Earnest in my life, both here and in London, but Daniel's is the finest I have ever seen.  Brilliantly conceived, it was funny, visually unforgettable and elegantly performed.

Working in the tradition of today's great European theatrical directors, Daniel's work pushes the boundaries of our received understanding of a play.  There were many parts of his bold and risk-taking McCarter production of Hamlet that were astonishing.  As a fellow director, I give Daniel the highest compliment one director can give another: I don’t know if I could ever direct Hamlet without wanting to shamelessly steal more than a few of Daniel's brilliant ideas!  For some of our audiences, Daniel’s Hamlet went too far; for many others, including myself, it was a revelation.  Either way, I am proud to welcome back a director whose work is so daring and intrepid that it provokes strong responses, promotes a dialogue within our community, and produces a performance that enhances our understanding of the original text.

What Daniel is planning with Tartuffe is more traditional than his work on Hamlet, though it still promises to apply a twenty-first century perspective to the seventeenth-century text.  Daniel is fascinated by the seventeenth-century, and this production will pay homage to that period by looking at those times through a modern lens, as if under a microscope.  Certainly, the reason we continue to produce the great classic plays like Tartuffeis because what they have to say about the human condition is eternally true.  By looking at these magnificent plays through a modern lens, we access the deepest truths about ourselves.

Tartuffe is a study of hypocrisy, a satire with absolutely serious undertones.  Daniel’s production promises to ride the line between the funny and the terrifying with muscular, brutal humor and undeniable relevance to our contemporary lives and politics.  As Daniel has pointed out: “When fear is pervasive, it creates a market for Tartuffes.”  Tartuffe is a play I love.   Savagely funny, it begs for a daring theatrical approach.  I cannot wait to see Daniel’s production of Molière's masterpiece.  It promises to be thrilling.