{"id":52857,"date":"2022-04-13T18:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/?p=52857"},"modified":"2022-04-26T12:04:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T04:04:00","slug":"the-pros-of-playing-a-con","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/the-pros-of-playing-a-con\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pros of Playing A Con"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tell us more about your character of Tartuffe.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Tartuffe is a cunning con artist who worms his way into the household of this rich family led by Orgon (Ivan Heng). He pretends to be a holy man, and who knows what trouble he\u2019s going to get up to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of research did you do for the role?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I actually did a lot of research into real<\/em> holy men \u2013 priests and pastors \u2013 to observe how they carry themselves. I even watched quite a few videos of people speaking in tongues, as well as videos of people teaching other people how to speak in tongues. Interestingly, there\u2019s a lot of emphasis on Ts and Ps and Ls! I definitely drew from all of these references and put them into my performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How else have you been preparing for your role?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When Moli\u00e8re first wrote this play back in the 17th century, he drew quite liberally from the style of commedia dell\u2019arte<\/em> \u2013 an Italian Renaissance improvisational art form that relied heavily on stock characters such as foolish old men or devious servants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this mind, Glen Goei, our director, invited Alvin Chiam to act as the movement director for Tartuffe<\/em>. Alvin worked under French master clown Philippe Gaulier, and he came to our rehearsals and taught us many things that we found very useful in creating our roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Tartuffe is based on the stock character of \u2018Scaramouche\u2019, who has characteristics of the \u2018capitano\u2019 or captain. He\u2019s full of pride, so he would lead with his chest, like a peacock. Scaramouche can be sneaky as well, so there’s an element of a fox to him too. At one point in the play, Tartuffe is also described as a \u201cchimpanzee of a man\u201d. So I\u2019ve taken all of these references as tells, as markers from which I can draw and slowly craft a wily, charming, dark and brooding character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is the most challenging thing about playing Tartuffe?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Apart from finding the truth inside the very heightened world of this production of Tartuffe<\/em>, the most challenging thing for me is delivering a performance that constantly turns on a dime. Tartuffe is a man of many faces. He can appear charming and beguiling, and then, suddenly, he\u2019s dark and lecherous, and then, seemingly holy and full of penitence and prayer. It\u2019s tricky to get right, but I love having the opportunity to play a character with so many colours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s it been like working with Glen on Tartuffe<\/em>?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been great. It\u2019s my first time working with him, and he\u2019s a wonderful director. He\u2019s so gentle in the room, but his vision is very strong and clear. Every time we work on a scene, he lifts it by giving it his sense of drama, his experience, his knowledge of theatre and what makes something theatrical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favourite thing about the show?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

My favourite thing about the show is easily Joel Tan\u2019s script. The text is delicious<\/em>, and it\u2019s such a good adaptation of Moli\u00e8re\u2019s play. Joel has done a wonderful job. Every word, every syllable, is so finely crafted, because Joel is naturally a poet and, like Tartuffe himself, the text turns on a dime. One moment, there\u2019s comedy, hilarity and witty banter, and in the very next moment, there\u2019s something real and honest and heartbreaking happening. The text is truly wonderful to have and to serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there anything that has surprised you about this play?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Honestly, the fact that it is still so relevant today \u2013 not just in modern times, but right here in Singapore, where it is often difficult to talk about sensitive topics like religious hypocrisy. What Moli\u00e8re has done is show us how faith and religion can be manipulated for nefarious purposes \u2013 something a lot of people find hard to look squarely at, to think and talk about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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