Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Charles Newell's conception for his new Court Theatre production of Moliere's "Tartuffe" took some guts. The deluded family at the heart of this famous 17th century French comedy has been cast as an affluent, African-American household that lives in Kenwood, the South Side neighborhood now famous for being the home of President Barack Obama and his wife and daughters. We watch Orgon, the otherwise upstanding patriarch of this group played by the great A.C. Smith, being taken in blindly by the title character, a Caucasian religious hypocrite, even though the slime ball actually is trying to seduce Orgon's brilliant wife after having already persuaded him to hand over his daughter for an early marriage."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Newell's take on "Tartuffe," a play that suggests what can happen when a newly rich and powerful member of society falls prey to a demagogue, arrives immediately on the spikey heels of his reimagined take on "The Misanthrope," Moliere's play about an upscale segment of society rife with hypocrisy and gossip. And once again, in an attempt to raise questions about race and class in THIS country, the director has shifted from the predominantly white casts that tend to portray Moliere's characters to a largely black one. The result is less radical than he might have expected as both productions (using the same cast) seem only to confirm that there are plenty of skilled black actors in town who can play "aristocrats" and deftly volley Richard Wilbur's supple translations of Moliere's rhymed couplets."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...And putting Tartuffe in the here-and-now allows the cast to get away with some contemporary flourishes, particularly the terrific Ledo, whose driving portrayal of Dorine as some kind of Eastern European sparkplug makes up for her use as furniture in The Misanthrope, and McClain, who gets to turn inspired physical comedy into real emotional hurt in the crucial scene in which Elmire entraps Tartuffe to prove her case to Orgon once and for all. And Smith brings the vital gravitas to convince us of his character's stubborn intractibility and the foolishness it leads to. Even the racial resonances feel better thought out, more deliberate, here. It's a strong satire that shows its relevance without forcing it."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...Thanks to a few interesting choices, “Tartuffe” is brimming with visual appeal. Consistency seems cast aside when it comes to Jacqueline Firkins’ costume design. Sensible suits and an unremarkable maid’s uniform are worn alongside quirky, nerdy-chic outifts — Mariane looked more like a Betsy Johnson model than an elite Hyde Park daughter. But the decision to cast the role of Orgon’s mother (Allen Gilmore) as man in drag was a funny touch, turning a rigid, potentially unused character into a more likeable comedic vehicle."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Juicy tours de force abound: Elizabeth Ledo's spitfire depiction of the sassy and delightfully insubordinate maid Dorine, Erik Hellman's sly turn as Tartuffe's treacherous valet, Michael Pogue's ardent take on the rational brother Cleante, and, especially, Allen Gilmore's triumphant drag role as Orgon's fundamentalist-mongering mother, the church lady from hell."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Court Theatre’s Tartuffe remains an impressively realized tour de force. Going well beyond the need to show how the controversies of Molière’s era are still with us, Newell’s production reinvests this centuries-old text with the more pressing controversies of our own age. And those willing to look more deeply at the subtle racial politics unfolding onstage at Court will be graciously rewarded—not with phony, ready-made solutions, but rather with the sort of achingly ambiguous questions only the best of theater can dare ask."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This talented and energetic cast makes this piece sing with joy and abounding energy. I appreciated all the actors' attention to character detail. Mr. Smith as Orgon commands the stage as he slowly comes around to see what the family has been trying to tell him from the start."