★★★★☆ Kate Cherry’s update of Molière’s 17th-century commedia d’ell arte is the complete package.

Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth
October 27, 2016

Kate Cherry’s final hurrah after nine years as Artistic Director of Black Swan State Theatre Company is a production of Molière​’s Tartuffe that is both hilarious and incisive. Her successful update of Moliere’s 17th-century commedia d’ell arte is the complete package. It owes much to Justin Fleming’s Australian-ised text enriched by an opulently materialistic set and a cast of articulate, naturalistic actors.

The play opens with Madame Pernelle (Jenny Davis in outrageous form) descending the stairs of the marbled mansion in Richard Robert’s stunning rotating set. She provides a fabulously blunt introduction to each character as she takes her leave of the “house that’s gone astray”.

The father of the home Orgon (Steve Turner is excellent as a small, misguided man) has welcomed the cash-strapped cleric Tartuffe into his home and become entranced by his religiosity. Different opinions are expressed about the house-guest and it becomes clear that Tartuffe is not all he appears. Despite this, Orgon decides to bequeath his home, daughter and inheritance to the imposter and it...