Review by Dan Rubins for Theatre Mania Oct 20, 2025
Director Keaton Wooden’s adaptation of Ranjit Bolt’s 2003 translation has literally been retitled André De Shields Is Tartuffe. When Tartuffe enters, first singing “Feelin’ Good” and then a facetiously pious “Ave Maria,” De Shields is accompanied by a prompter dressed in clergyman’s attire and carrying a copy of the script. When the actor needs to call for line, he requests a verse from the gospels—“Chapter Four, Verse 6!” and so forth—so as to fully integrate the promptbook into the storytelling without a whiff of self-consciousness.
In other words, so zealously does this production idolize its star that Tartuffe itself has been, to quote the wordplay in most translations, “Tartuffified.” This is a production set up to celebrate its explosively suave star. And for good reason: De Shields is a commanding, whimsical, and wickedly sensuous Tartuffe.
Article from The Arts Shelf Sept 5, 2025
This October, Tony Award® winner and Broadway Deity André De Shields will lead a new production of Moliere’s classic comedy, TARTUFFE, which will see the House of the Redeemer in New York City transformed into an immersive and decadent spectacle.
With performances beginning on October 1st, this strictly limited engagement will see De Shields and his ensemble invite just 100 guests per night to a sumptuous evening of ritual and revelry.
With a razor-sharp translation by Ranjit Bolt (OBE) and direction by Keaton Wooden, the scandalous satire that once shocked Paris returns as an opulent evening of ritual, revelry, and theatrical excess.