The Intellectual

Hedonism is out; asceticism is the new religion. Long, hot showers, having the heating on with the windows open: none of this was ever clever, but now it’s a waste of valuable resources which are fast running out. So it suits businessman Orgon that his friend Tartuffe, who is currently living with him, is forever launching into impassioned pleas for frugality, despite the fact that Tartuffe does not practice it himself, and preaches water while drinking wine (Orgon’s wine, naturally). And yet: Orgon’s business is doing badly, his wealth is dwindling – and Tartuffe's attitude helps Orgon explain to his family that they need to tighten their belts. The question is: how much? Orgon’s wife Elmire is not amused; after all, she married Orgon mainly for his money. And his children Damis and Mariane had been counting on inheriting a fortune one day, instead of having to go to the bother of earning their own money. So there’s not much chance of them willingly agreeing to start living within their means. Orgon’s mother Madame Pernelle is entirely on Tartuffe’s side, however – despite the fact that her former life of luxury is partly to blame for their current poverty. Threatened with a huge drop in their standard of living, suddenly everyone is at loggerheads, because what for some is a moral duty to do the right thing is seen by others as puritanical miserliness.

John von Düffel combines themes from Molière’s Tartuffe and The Miser to create a trenchant play that takes stock of the present day in the face of a highly uncertain future.