Photograph by Topher McGrillis.
A change of format from our usual Q&A session. Nicky Cox, Assistant Director of Tartuffe, described the development of the play from its conception in 2016 to its latest evolution two years later.Nicky explained how Director Greg Doran was anxious to retain the controversial ‘bite’ of Moliere’s original play as well as its structure and characters. Setting the play in a Pakistani Muslim family in modern Birmingham created perfect conditions for this fast moving comedy.
Asif Khan and Zainab Hasan played Tartuffe and Mariam Pervaiz respectively and brought other perspectives to the discussion. The actors gave us insights into the development of their characters as rehearsals and workshops progressed. Asif and Zainab were both committed to creating characters that were true to the world of the play that avoided stereotyping in its depiction of the muslim community
Q They described the hard work involved in playing Tartuffe and Tamburlaine two or three times in the same week. The exceptional heat of summer 2018 was another challenge which caused the musicians sitars to constantly go out of tune!
A well structured and tremendously informative session.