Jeremy Trager: Tartuffe on "Tartuffe"

We don't really know what we've learned until we can look back on something that is finished.

My freshman year in college, I served on the running crew for Tartuffe. Moliere seemed much more sophisticated and rich (in both appearance and content) compared to my earlier perception of it being a brutish farce. As it turns out, Moliere (like any playwright) is subject to stylistic variations within his body of work. He's also subject to the vision of directors, actors, and designers. Like Shakespeare, Moliere's stories can be moved from century to century, setting to setting - a testament to his relevance and universality. 

Tartuffe is the antagonist, yes. He is a very tangible threat to every other character in the show. He is in some ways heartless. Certainly, he lacks morality. But he's coming from destitution; fighting to survive in an economically unfair society where the rich live like royalty and people like him eat scraps off the street. I can't really fault him for conning his way into luxury. That he uses religion as his means of manipulation speaks to his cleverness. One need only tune in to coverage of the Presidential caucuses to see that religion is still wielded as a way to gain favor. Tartuffe has too sordid a past to run for President of the United States, but his dog and pony show is quite similar to what we see in today's sociopolitical landscape. I suppose then, Tartuffe... or should I say, Moliere... was ahead of his time. . 

At this juncture I'm still uncertain of many of the design elements that will come into play during tech week when we get to Theatre Wit. But I can speak to something I've already learned in this process, which is the humanity of my character. I remember watching our college production and thinking Tartuffe was a monstrous creature. This was - and is - the type of character I am most interested in playing. At that age, I could not really put into words why I was so interested in exploring the "bad guys." Now, as a more mature student of acting, I can attest that the "bad guys" often turn out to be the most complex and surprisingly human in any given story. After all, what is more human than to be deeply flawed? 

-- Jeremy Trager, is a Jeff Award, After Dark Award, and Broadway World Chicago Award-winning actor and singer who studies vocal performance and Shakespeare in his spare time. Tartuffe will be his first collaboration with BoHo Theatre.

Tartuffe: The Controversy

     There is very little written documentation as to why Moliere’s Tartuffe was suppressed for years by the French King Louis XIV. It is very likely that some readings of the unfinished Tartuffe had been heard around court and that Louis XIV had been present at these readings. Word of the content of the play had made its way to an only thirty-year-old Catholic organization, La Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement (Company of the Blessed Sacrament), and they began to pressure Louis XIV to suppress the play. Moliere’s former patron, Prince de Conti, had become a fervent member of this group around the same time he refused to continue supporting Moliere’s troupe. There has been some suggestion that Conti inspired the play and the hypocritcal character of Tartuffe. Probably because of the influence of La Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, just five days after the first performance of the unfinished play, Louis XIV officially forbade its performance.


     One historical source suggests that strong protest against the play came from the Kings mother, Anne of Austria. Queen Anne was a very religious woman who had ties with La Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. The Queen Mother hated that Louis had a very public, and very loving, relationship with his mistress. She found this offensive, inappropriate and incompatible with her religion. In her many attempts to reform her son, she most likely recruited the efforts of La Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, and so joined in their condemnation of the still as-of-yet unfinished Tartuffe.


     The play was allowed to perform three private performances (only one of which was the completed text), but then was unseen until the Paris opening of the re-titled L’Imposteur in 1667. It ran only once to a packed house and was immediately shut down again. A week later, the Archbishop of Paris issued an order to prevent all the people of Paris from hearing, seeing or reading L’Imposteur. Soon after this, an anonymous letter began to appear in bookshops defending the play- though it had no effect. The king was out of Paris at the time, and Moliere’s letters to him went unanswered. Finally, upon the return of the King to Paris, on February 5th, 1669 Tartuffe was allowed to open and stay open.

-- compiled by Ariel Tocino, Director of New Works and Social Media for BoHo Theatre. Tartuffe opens this weekend at Theater Wit! Get your tickets today. Follow BoHoTheatre on Twitter: @BohoTheatre for updates on the show, the season and all things BoHo!

Tartuffe: Meet the Playwright

The playwright we know today as Moliere was born in 1622 as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in Paris, the eldest of six children. His family was upper class, and had a thriving upholstery business. Jean-Baptiste’s father, Jean Poquelin, was able to purchase a royal post for his family, as "Tapissiers ordinaires de la chambre du Roi", (upholsters of the royal family). This brought the Poquelin family even closer to the royal court, which would help Jean-Baptiste in his adulthood as a playwright. In 1641, Jean-Baptiste attended a Jesuit school, College de Clermont, and received a Law Degree. He also began a famous romantic liaison with the much older actress Madeleine Bejart. Together in 1643, the two founded Illustre Theatre (“Illustrious Theatre”). Unfortunately, in 1644, Illustre Theatre failed, closed, and Jean-Baptiste was thrown into and bailed out of debtors prison.

In 1645, Jean-Baptiste began touring the countryside with as a performer with an acting troupe. It is at this time that he assumed the name Moliere, and joined a theatre company, Dufresne, which he would eventually control. After years of touring the countryside, in 1656 Moliere and his troupe return to Paris and performed many successful shows written by Moliere. In 1659, the troupe began to receive regular monetary support from the king and in 1660, the troupe moved to the theatre at Palais-Royal.

In 1662 Moliere married Armande, an actress in his troupe twenty years his junior. The next year Moliere and his troupe were invited to perform at Versailles for the first time. In 1664, the first three acts of Tartuffe are presented to the court at Versailles. It was not until 1667 when first complete version of Tartuffe offered, but immediately suppressed by the king. Finally two years later in 1669, a second version of Tartuffe was finally allowed to perform and was a huge success. Tartuffe made the troupe the most money they ever make in any one run of a show.

Moliere eventually wrote over 30 plays and lived his life as a famous actor. In 1673, Moliere became very ill during a performance of Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and died on Feb 17, 1673.


-- compiled by Ariel Tocino, Director of New Works and Social Media for BoHo Theatre. Tartuffe opens this weekend at Theater Wit! Get your tickets today. Follow her on Twitter: @BohoTheatre for updates on the show, the season and all things BoHo!