Denis O'Hare, as previously reported, will make his National Theatre debut in February 2019. The Tony winner, last on Broadway in Elling, will star in the title role of a new version of Molière’s comic masterpiece Tartuffe by John Donnelly. Performances will begin at the National's Lyttelton February 9 prior to an official opening February 21.
The stage and screen star will be joined on the London stage by Kevin Doyle as Orgon and Olivia Williams as Elmirem with Kitty Archer, Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea, Fayez Bakhsh, Susan Engel, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Hari Dhillon, Matthew Duckett, Susan Engel, Henry Everett, Will Kelly, Geoffrey Lumb, Penelope McGhie, Kevin Murphy, Enyi Okoronkwo, and Roisin Rae.
Director Blanche McIntyre, who is also making her NT debut, said in an earlier statement, “John Donnelly’s adaptation is an outrageously funny, savage, brilliant updating of Molière’s classic. Molière spoke fearlessly about power and hypocrisy in Tartuffe—so much so that the play was banned more than once. This new version shifts the weight of the central ideas to entertain and disturb an audience of 2019."
SEE WHAT ELSE IS SCHEDULED TO PERFORM IN LONDON
O’Hare added, "I have always loved Molière and find his plays bracingly relevant. As an American actor, the chance to work at the National is an immense honor. As a recently transplanted American living in Paris, to play Tartuffe is deliciously ironic and to be Tartuffe at the National is a dream come true."
The upcoming production will have set and costume design by Robert Jones, lighting design by Oliver Fenwick, and original music and sound design by Ben and Max Ringham.
(Updated December 11, 2018)
