‘Dangerous’ RSC Tartuffe update dares to satirise a Muslim cleric

WHEN Molière’s Tartuffe was first performed in 1664 it was promptly banned due to its vicious satire of Catholicism.

In order to guarantee that the latest Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation has a similar “edge”, the French farce about a charlatan priest who tricks his way into exploiting a wealthy family has been set in Birmingham’s Pakistani community, the protagonist a convert to Islam.

Iqbal Khan, the director, admitted that satirising a Muslim cleric was “dangerous” and that he expected to alienate audiences. But he said it was felt that, as a satire, it was important to update the context as far as possible.

“This seems to be a play that really speaks to our present condition,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Front Row.

“It’s set against a religious hypocrite and that has to be dangerous, I think, and a Muslim cleric is obviously a slightly more dangerous context. Setting it in Birmingham... it allows us to be provocative and topical.”

He added: “We thought it would be more divisive and might alienate more people than it seems to have done but they seem to have really recognised the truth of the situations we are representing on stage.”

Anil Gupta, who co-wrote the adaptation alongside Richard Pinto, acknowledged that much of the play’s power is derived from the fact that it “makes the audience a bit uncomfortable”.

In an article for the RSC, Gupta wrote: “There has to be an edge, a line that everyone is wondering whether you are going to cross. One of the privileges and purposes of comedy is to go into those areas that society is uncomfortable with and poke them with a stick.” He told Front Row that the dichotomy between Birmingham and “its posh neighbour” Stratford Upon Avon, where the play opened this week at the RSC’S Swan Theatre, was relevant.

“I think there is a feeling that the RSC ought to be engaging with its neighbouring big conurbation and that people should be coming to see these plays,” he added.

“They are right on their doorstep. Maybe we want to do more of these things where people see people like themselves up on the stage.

“One of the messages of the play, which isn’t our message – it’s Molière’s message – is that you don’t need someone

‘One of the privileges and purposes of comedy is to go into those areas that society is uncomfortable with’

how to tell you how to be a good Catholic or a good Muslim. That’s between you and God.”

Khan insisted that the play was not a critique of any faith.

He told The Daily Telegraph he had been “very careful” to make a distinction between those with a sincere belief in Islam and the Qu’ran and those who manipulate it to serve their own agenda.

“Imran, the patriarch, who is most susceptible, is a man struggling with grief and failing to provide guidance for his children and family,” he said.

“Ultimately, one hopes that the audience feels some compassion for this man and are wary of the ‘branders of truth’ as represented by Tartuffe.”