Tartuffe moves to Birmingham in RSC adaptation

Published: 9 June 2018
Reporter: Steve Orme

Asif Khan who plays the title character Tahir Taufiq Arsuf

Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto have created a new version of Molière’s comedy Tartuffe, set in the Pakistani Muslim community in Birmingham, which is to be staged in Stratford by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Tartuffe tells the story of a “charismatic chameleon”, known in this production as Tahir Taufiq Arsuf, described as “a Rasputin for the 21st century armed with a Twitter handle and the gift of the gab”.

It will be directed by Birmingham-born Iqbal Khan whose previous productions for the RSC include Antony and Cleopatra in 2017 and Othello in 2015.

He said about Tartuffe, “I’m excited by the potency of setting the play in a modern Islamic family and in a community under pressure, where religion is so problematically the thing that identifies them.

“This great play retains its relevance and satiric bite when the religious context is acute. Tartuffe is the archetypal confidence trickster, someone who preys on the vulnerability of others.

“I’m a Brummie and born into a Pakistani Islamic family, so this feels like a very personal journey to undertake.”

Asif Khan who played Captain Jack in the RSC production of Richard Bean’s The Hypocrite in 2017 returns to play the title role in Tartuffe.

The cast also includes Salman Akhtar (Waqaas), Raj Bajaj (Damee Pervaiz), James Clyde (Khalil), Sasha Behar (Amira Pervaiz), Michelle Bonnard (Darina), Zainab Hasan (Mariam Pervaiz), Naveed Khan (PC Raj Kumar), Simon Nagra (Imran Pervaiz), Sam Pay (policeman), Riad L Richie (Usman), Vivienne Smith (policewoman), Yasmin Taheri (Pippa) and Amina Zia (Dadimaa Pervaiz).

Design is by Bretta Gerecke and music is composed by Sarah Sayeed. Lighting is by Richard Howell with sound by Jeremy Dunn and movement by Shelley Maxwell.

Tartuffe runs in the Swan Theatre, Stratford from Friday 7 September until Saturday 23 February 2019.

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