NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE ENGLISH THEATRE TOURS TO NEWFOUNDLAND - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JILLIAN KEILEY BRINGS ANDY JONES’ TARTUFFE HOME
News Release
NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE ENGLISH THEATRE TOURS TO NEWFOUNDLAND - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JILLIAN KEILEY BRINGS ANDY JONES’ TARTUFFE HOME
Robert Joy and Greg Malone among a mix of Canadian performers taking the show on the road for a five-city tour!
OTTAWA, July 20, 2017 — In 2013, English Theatre Artistic Director Jillian Keiley opened her first season at the National Arts Centre with the Molière’s classic Tartuffe, playfully adapted for pre-confederate Newfoundland, complete with sharp wit and biting satire courtesy of Andy Jones. This fall, as part of Canada’s sesquicentennial, NAC English Theatre takes this smash-hit back from whence it came!
Bringing together a stellar cast featuring some of the original 2013/14 Ensemble and actors familiar to Newfoundland audiences, including Greg Malone (CODCO) as Madame Pernelle and Robert Joy (CSI:NY) in the title role of Tartuffe, this production marks the first tour for NAC English Theatre since 1998. Tartuffe will take to the road in Newfoundland for a six-performance, five-city tour in September and October.
“NAC English Theatre already brings great artists from across the country to our national stage, however it’s our aim to serve audiences from outside our nation’s capital as well,” said Ms Keiley. “Until now only the NAC Orchestra has had the opportunity to play for Newfoundland audiences. What better introduction to NAC Theatre than to take a production there that has our own master of comedy Andy Jones at the helm. Our Ottawa audiences really went wild for Andy’s Tartuffe, but Newfoundlanders have a love for our own language and turn of phrase that is ours alone. The very first version of this translation happened in Cupids a few years ago and I can’t help but note that while mainlanders delighted in this piece, Newfoundlanders actually revelled in it. It’s such a pleasure to play this show to people from home.”
Molière’s comedy classic is ingeniously re-imagined in Andy Jones’ riotous adaptation, set in 1939 Newfoundland. This Tartuffe is two hours of insanely brilliant showmanship that is witty, cutting and fierce. A blazingly funny exploration of religious hypocrisy – with a salty and distinctive Newfoundland flavor. Starting out at a slow boil, the show quickly roils into a steaming, rollicking love-fest, leaving audiences hiccupping with laughter.
By taking the homeless and holy-seeming Tartuffe under his roof, wealthy merchant Orgon thinks he is harboring a pillar of piety. But in fact, Orgon is the one who has been taken in by a ruthless hypocrite and con artist. With Orgon determined to marry off his daughter to Tartuffe – and blind to the latter’s lecherous designs on his wife – it’s up to the rest of the household to expose the fraudster. But revealing the truth, it turns out, entails dangers of its own.
“When the time came to cast this revival,” added Ms. Keiley, “we were able to combine performers from both the Cupids and NAC productions, as well as a few other Newfoundland favourites - and I know they’ll influence and push each other to go further and further. A real treat for us is going to be featuring Bob Joy in the role of Tartuffe. An original member of CODCO, Bob is a star of film, TV and Broadway, an extraordinary player and an extraordinary person. I can’t wait to get started on it.”
“Rock solid and hilarious. A side-splitting success!” – Ottawa Citizen
National Arts Centre on Tour
Tartuffe
from the play of the same name by Molière
very loosely adapted and even more loosely translated by Andy Jones
directed by Jillian Keiley
Featuring Courtney Brown, Lois Brown, David Coomber, Eric Davis, Paul Dunn, Robert Joy, Rory Lambert, Greg Malone, Amelia Manuel, Joey Tremblay and Alison Woolridge.
The creative team assisting Ms Keiley include Set Designer Patrick Clark; Lighting Designer Leigh Ann Vardy; Costume Designer Marie Sharpe; Stage Manager Samira Rose and Assistant Stage Manager Chantal Hayman.
Presented by the Arts & Culture Centre in partnership with Canada’s National Arts Centre
Tartuffe was co-commissioned by Canada’s National Arts Centre and New World Theatre Project in Cupids, NL.
This production of Tartuffe received its premiere at Canada’s National Arts Centre in 2013, as part of the NAC English Theatre 2013/14 season.
PERFORMANCES: NEWFOUNDLAND
Thursday, September 28 and Friday, September 29 – St. John’s, Arts & Culture Centre
Wednesday, October 4 – Stephenville, Arts & Culture Centre
Saturday, October 7 – Cornerbrook, Arts & Culture Centre
Wednesday, October 11 – Grand Falls-Windsor Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts
Saturday, October 14 – Gander, Joseph R. Smallwood Arts & Culture Centre
A detailed schedule for each of the performances can be found at artsandculturecentre.com
EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
The tour will be complemented by a full suite of education and outreach activities taking place in all five communities. These activities will include professional learning for teachers, student workshops and public outreach events, working with partners such as the Newfoundland Labrador English School District, The Rooms (St. John’s), Memorial University (Grenfell Campus) and the Canadian Improv Games, among others.
SUPPORT FOR TARTUFFE TOUR
The tour of Tartuffe is made possible with support from Elinor Gill Ratcliffe C.M., O.N.L., LLD (hc), Penney Group, as well as Rick Mercer and Gerald Lunz.
FOLLOW THE TOUR ONLINE
People from across Canada and around the world can follow this extraordinary tour by visiting tartuffetour.ca. Daily reports will also be posted on Facebook and Twitter @CanadasNAC.
ABOUT NAC ENGLISH THEATRE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JILLIAN KEILEY
Jillian Keiley is an award-winning director from St. John’s, Newfoundland and founder of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland. Ms. Keiley has directed and taught across Canada and internationally. She received her BFA in Theatre from York University and was awarded Honorary Doctorates of Letters from both Memorial University and York University. She was the winner of the prestigious Siminovitch Prize for Directing in 2004 and the Canada Council’s John Hirsch Prize in 1997. Ms. Keiley assumed her role as NAC English Theatre Artistic Director in August 2012, and her productions for the NAC have included The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night, Metamorphoses: Based on the Myths of Ovid, Tartuffe, Oil and Water and Alice Through the Looking-Glass, which she also directed for the Stratford Festival, the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg and Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre, featuring local casts in each city. More recently, she directed Bakkhai, The Diary of Anne Frank and As You Like It for the Stratford Festival and will tour Artistic Fraud’s The Colony of Unrequited Dreams through Newfoundland Labrador this fall, following the tour of Tartuffe.
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