Moliere and a dollop of fun in Brum
Tartuffe (Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon) Verdict: Genially Islamicised comedy ★★★★✩
THE nearest most people get to religious hypocrisy these days is genuflecting their way into faith schools on behalf of their children. That’s probably why Moliere’s 17th-century comedy about a spiritual conman has been comparatively neglected . . . until recently.
The Royal Shakespeare Company has come up with the ruse of setting it in Birmingham, and playing the artful hypocrite of the title as a dodgy Imam ripping off a devout Pakistani businessman. The adaptation by TV writers Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto (from Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At No. 42) soft-pedals the religious comedy; they need fear no fatwas. With Asif Khan as the Islamic charlatan, it’s two-anda-half hours of genial sitcom.
Simon Nagra pleases as Imran Pervaiz, the Asian businessman who’s fallen under his spell.
Ali-G style rapping lends street cred. Add in traditional Punjabi music and a granny hissing Urdu curses from her mobility stroller, and Moliere’s comedy is given a clever, charming new lease of life.