Tartuffe Rehearsal Diary
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by Molière in a new version by John Donnelly Rehearsal Diaries Contents The National’s production 3 Rehearsal diary: week one 4 Rehearsal diary: week two 5 Rehearsal diary: week three 6 Rehearsal diary: week four 7 Rehearsal diary: week five 8 Rehearsal diary: week six 9 Rehearsal diary: week seven 10 Theatre glossary 11 This background pack is published by and copyright Welcome to the National Theatre’s rehearsal diaries The Royal National Theatre Board for Tartuffe Reg. No. 1247285 Registered Charity No. 224223 Views expressed in this background These rehearsal diaries, written by the staff director of Tartuffe, introduce the unique pack are not necessarily those of process of creating, rehearsing and staging this play. At the end of these rehearsal the National Theatre diaries, you’ll find a glossary of some of the common theatre terms which come up Author as part of a rehearsal process. Ed Madden Editor Through imaginative and innovative in-school, on-site and online activities, Sarah Corke NT Learning opens up the National’s repertoire, artistry, skills, and the building Design itself, enabling participants of all ages to discover new skills and experience the NT Graphic Design Studio excitement of theatre-making. If you’ve enjoyed this background pack or would like to talk to us about getting involved in NT Learning activities, please contact us on NT Learning National Theatre [email protected] or 020 7452 3388. South Bank London SE1 9PX T 020 7452 3388 Sarah Eastaff F 020 7452 3380 Programme Manager, NT Learning E [email protected] April 2019 The rehearsal and production photographs in this background pack were taken by Manuel Harlan Cover image by Pal Hansen Further production details: nationaltheatre.org.uk National Theatre: Rehearsal Diaries 2 The National’s production The Company Pernelle Susan Engel Elmire Olivia Williams Cleante Hari Dhillon Dorine Kathy Kiera Clarke Damis Enyi Okoronkwo Mariane Kitty Archer Orgon Kevin Doyle Valere Geoffrey Lumb Tartuffe Denis O’Hare Loyal Matthew Duckett OfficerHenry Everett Ensemble Adeyinka Akinrinade, Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea, Fayez Bakhsh, Will Kelly, Penelope McGhie, Kevin Murphy, Roisin Rae, Dominik Tiefenthaler Understudies Pernelle Penelope McGhie Elmire/Dorine Roisin Rae Cleante Dominik Tiefenthaler Damis Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea Mariane Adeyinka Akinrinade Orgon Henry Everett Valere Will Kelly Tartuffe Kevin Murphy Loyal/OfficerFayez Bakhsh Director Blanche McIntyre Set and Costume Designer Robert Jones Lighting Designer Oliver Fenwick Composition and Sound Design Ben and Max Ringham Physical Comedy Director Toby Park Company Voice Work Jeannette Nelson Staff Director Ed Madden This production had its press night on 21 February 2019, in the National’s Lyttelton Theatre. National Theatre: Rehearsal Diaries 3 Rehearsal diary: week one Staff Director Ed Madden’s diary tracks the six-week rehearsal period for Tartuffe, beginning 17 December 2018 Fittingly enough for a play which can be subtitled either ‘The Imposter’ or ‘The Hypocrite’, Tartuffe is a play of fascinating contradictions. Broad farce rubs up against satire; stock commedia dell’arte characters are squeezed into high-stakes corners; the household affairs of a wealthy family come to reflect on the state of the nation. Perhaps most significantly, Molière’s play has long had the power both to entertain and to shock; though King Louis XIV found its 1664 premiere performance ‘extremely diverting’ he nevertheless banned it from public performance ‘in order not to allow it to be abused by others’. In the context of a 17th-century France with no separation of church and state, the play’s interrogation of religious hypocrisy, and the manifold sins which can be hidden beneath a veneer of virtue, did not play well with prominent Catholic leaders. When the play could not be performed in public but was still being performed in private salons for the aristocracy, the Archbishop of Paris threatened excommunication not only for audience members, but for anyone who even read the text. But what does that have to do with us? Why do Tartuffe now? Our adapter John Donnelly, has been grappling with this question for the past four years – his answer is the fresh, fleet-footed adaptation which now holds our company’s attention in the Thompson rehearsal room. Monday begins with Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre, and Blanche McIntyre, our director for Tartuffe, leading a meet and greet for the full company, introducing us not just to one another but to some 40 or from the spatial (a drinks trolley is positioned and so of the thousand people who work for the NT. Satisfied repositioned until we’ve cracked it) to the vocal (there is that everyone is lovely, we get straight down to work much discussion of accents and who might try one out); with a read-through of the play, which we are pleased to the sensible (our scripts are now gloriously typo-free) to find is even funnier out loud than on paper and, crucially, the absurd (‘well, it’s a complicated idea to explain while feels urgent and immediate. Though recognisably falling over the back of a sofa’ – my quote of the week, Molière’s masterpiece, John Donnelly’s rendition of the from actor Olivia Williams). play is profoundly interested in contemporary notions of power, class consciousness and social inequality; By mid-afternoon on Friday we have walked and talked notions which hang thickly in the air in the dying through the whole play. Nothing is set or certain, but weeks of a year so characterised by political unrest we all have a rich, shared sense of the play and its and uncertainty. possibilities. Every so often there is a moment that I wish I could bottle – a look in Kevin Doyle’s eyes the first The rest of the week provides a chance for us to time he has a go at Orgon’s big Act One monologue, a acquaint ourselves with the play and what it might brilliant bit of physical comedy Enyi Okoronkwo offers require of us, safe in the knowledge that we then have up as an option for one of Damis’ entrances – but it is a week off over Christmas to digest what we learn, impossible to know what will stay or go from these early alongside a surfeit of mince pies. Discoveries range days of the process. That’s the thrill. Enyi Okoronkwo and Kitty Archer National Theatre: Rehearsal Diaries 4 Rehearsal photograph: Manuel Harlan Rehearsal diary: week two We return from Christmas to a civilised three-day week, sofa is big, this sofa is comfy, this sofa has a secret hole and even though we only rehearsed for five days before in its back for people to make funny entrances through; the break, we reunite as if we are a company of old truly it is the Rolls-Royce of home furnishings. friends. The benefit of our process’ leisurely beginning becomes clear now: we are comfortable around one As we put the first two acts of the play up on their feet another and around the play, and so are able to start this week, the intelligence of the sofa’s placement on work in earnest in an environment where we feel safe stage becomes apparent. It immediately locates us in truly to play, explore and take risks. a domestic setting, and provides ample opportunity to subtly paint family relationships early on, as a relaxed, Blanche takes a simple but effective attitude to communal space. The sheer size and centrality of the scheduling, and allocates an hour of rehearsal for thing, though, also helpfully divides the room: characters every page of the script. This allows time for thorough can hide behind it, volley ideas and insults across it, and intellectual, emotional and practical investigation of reach one another over it. On so many levels, it’s just so each beat in the text and fosters a usefully egalitarian smart: as a clear indicator of wealth, as a clear symbol of sense that everything which happens on stage is of family, and as a site for all manner of physical comedy. equal weight and significance. As is the case in so many classic works, there are certain scenes in Tartuffe It is a testament to Rob’s stagecraft, and is already which have become iconic, and which some audience being made the most of by the cast; since we are members will be particularly intrigued to see our blessed with a company with uniformly excellent spatial treatment of, but a real virtue of both John’s version instincts, even early drafts of blocking are helping the and Blanche’s vision is to approach every scene with room to feel properly lived-in. The more effectively we fresh eyes and a commitment to political, psychological can communicate a sense of this as a space in which and comic detail. the family feel totally comfortable, the more Tartuffe’s slow but steady encroachment on the room will feel like Since the general structure of rehearsals – reading a palpable threat to their way of life. This kind of work through the scene, having a chat about it, getting it shouldn’t necessarily be apparent to audiences – if up on its feet, and then playing around – looks set to anyone leaves the play and can only wax lyrical about remain fairly consistent through the next few weeks, the sofa, we’ll probably have done something wrong – it feels worth using these diaries to zoom in on specific but the hope is that an accumulation of such detail adds elements, individuals and ideas in the room. up to a rich and total theatrical experience. First off: the sofa. Rob Jones’ set design situates all of the play in the luxurious living room of Orgon’s enormous Highgate home, and features a spectacular sofa.