Tartufo

The famous comedy by Molière is staged at the Quirino theater, directed by Roberto Valerio and has as main interpreters Giuseppe Cederna, Vanessa Gravina and Roberto Valerio himself.

The Tartuffo (Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur), a tragic comedy in five acts, was written by the French playwright in 1664 and is a merciless satire on the society of the time. Tartufo is in fact the symbol of hypocrisy hidden under the mask of religious devotion and friendship towards the naive Orgone but in reality he wants to take advantage of his trust in order to betray him.

The figure of the protagonist is one of the most interesting among those conceived by Molière because he is shrewd, insinuating, dangerous, so much so as to have something diabolical, sinister; an upstart who pretends to be virtuous and uses dissimulation to reach his goals, manipulating and deceiving his neighbor.

In fact, Tartufo, with his subtle ways, tries to convince his friend Orgone to offer him all his assets and the hand of his daughter Marianna; only the intervention of his wife Elmira, a powerful and enigmatic character to whom the same protagonist is attracted, manages to unmask the true intentions of Tartufo who is finally discovered and arrested by the policemen.

Thanks to the talent of the extraordinary performers, the comedy, like all masterpieces, always appears relevant to us, also because it criticizes and is permeated by a bitter irony towards a materialistic society like the contemporary one.

Photo credits: courtesy of Quirino theater official site