Director's Review

OTTC’s ethos has always been to present work that will challenge ourselves as well as the audience, the staging of these two plays offered many challenges; in the style of dialogue, the multi-role playing by a single cast and creating a convincing and variable playing area within a composite set. We didn’t want traditional period plays, so location and period had to be neutral.

The theme of both plays show that hypocrisy and the perverse use of morality have no barriers of sex, social class or religious conscience and Molierés genius was to present this through the use of satirical comedy. Our job was to produce the same message in a modern, more accessible, presentation. A play is supposed to be a journey, at the end of which something has been learnt. I hope the audience and, more importantly, us, as actors, have learned something, (apart from the fact that these plays aren’t big sellers!)

Lance Hodges
Co-director

The following review appeared in the Swindon Evening Advertiser (www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk) on 22 May 2004:

Molière Double Bill Review

Once again, OTTC have produced two plays that no other company would give a fig about.

Any company who can invite a theatre critic to their dress rehearsal has to be sure of their accomplishment and the players on stage. There is nothing worse than performing to an empty audience and giving your all. OTTC did just that and I wasn’t afraid to laugh all by myself.

Don Jan and Tartuffe are billed as comedies. They are, but in a rather strange way. They're heavy: more like black comedy than the real belly laugh that comes with true comedies.

The same cast acted in both plays with just a change in the lead roles which were taken by the directors of the plays.

Michael Bull played the lecherous Tartuffe to perfection. He manages these roles with a great deal of truthfulness. He is wholly convincing in this play directed by Lance Hodges.

Lance plays the title role Don Juan, directed by Michael Bull. Again, a truly convincing performance aided and abetted by the wonderful David Howell as Sganarelle, his manservant.

These two played superbly off one another, David giving some excellent comedy timing and, when he needed to, doing nothing at all magnificently. He never once went out of character, no matter what was happening on stage.

The ladies in these two productions had the lesser roles but still managed to come up trumps. As always, Wendy Vickery played her heart out, showing the natural talent that she has.

OTTC have put a competent cast on stage once again, producing a thought provoking evening that I enjoyed. Whether you will enjoy it is, I think a matter of personal taste. Isn’t everything though?

These plays were written by Molière around four hundred years ago, but OTTC adapted them for today.

Ros Hollands
Swindon Evening Advertiser

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