Tartuffe
or The Philosopher's Pig

Orgon is the boss around here. And everyone basks in his warmth: his wife Elmire, his two children Damis and Mariane, his brother-in-law Cléante, his father-mother Mr-Mrs Pernelle and the maid Dorine. So far, so good. But then Orgon – Orgi for short – falls into a crisis as he reflects on his average life and realises that he is not close to anything or anyone, that there is a gulf separating him from the people and things around him. "Everything’s such a compromise." As much as he appreciates his mediocre way of life, he also senses that something fundamental is missing in his world, the edges of which begin to flicker terrifyingly. Orgon longs for change: "I’d love to seize or be seized by something." A new world in which finery can be discovered and the full range of emotions felt – where it’s not just about existing but believing in something – that’s the aim! Because, as he points out, "things are not enough the way they are!" Into this scene steps the saviour Tartuffe, or Tüffi for short, and Orgi plans to relocate himself and his social centre from the mediocre realm to the Tüffi realm. In Tüffi’s ‘sun jungle’, life revolves around community, love, work, inner peace, supra-sexuality and, of course, holism. In Tüffi’s temple, you have to want and feel, to be free and proud, completely in the here and now and totally involved. Direct action! Take a deep breath!
The musician and playwright PeterLicht has brought Molière’s Tartuffe bang up to date, depicting a society running at full tilt, thrown off orbit by patriarchal turbocapitalism and craving for spectacle, performance and authenticity. Other desires are there, but the ways and means are lacking. How do we find utopia? How will the future look? What should we hold onto? How should we connect? What world exists tomorrow? Until these insights are gained, and answers found, one thing above all helps ­­– talking, all the time! And always stay one step ahead of depression!

As part of the DT Open Air in summer 2021, director Jan Bosse and ensemble will perform this comedy on the forecourt of the Deutsches Theater.