I'd rather go to hell than stay here...
This production of Tartuffe from the Slovenian Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television is set in Orgon's house. In the middle of the set, there is a cross on the wall with Jesus Christ hanging on it. From the very beginning, however, it is clear that this symbol does not belong in this house. So Jesus, witnessing the depravity of the inhabitants of the house, comes down from the cross and sets off with his GPS on a journey to somewhere far away (probably hell, where he might be better off). Unfortunately, we have to stay and watch this whole farce. So the question is - what will save this house?
And the answer? Absolutely no one and absolutely nothing. The characters have no motivation to change their behaviour in any way, since there is nothing like that in the text. The individual characters look as if they were each cut out of a different animated film, or some silent slapstick film, and then just thrown together onto the same set. The result is an hour-long production that doesn't bring anything original to the table, but merely tries to rely on familiar old stage tricks and routines.
The resulting production did not live up to its potential. The fact that we saw a performance by college students made this all the more surprising. Neither its dramaturgical intent nor any deeper point came through. Was it meant to be a mockery of morality in general? Or a mockery of Christianity in particular? A number of inconsistencies arose in the final piece, e.g the actors' attempts to ignore each other's presence in supposedly comic moments, or the creation of various caricatures which unfortunately no one laughed at.
The strongest element of the whole production was the character of Dorina, the maid moving around the house on roller skates with a stoic expression on her face and the precision of a machine. She was the only one who transcended the overall level of the production.
