A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes

Description

This fresh take on Moliere's Tartuffe, set in a world of fast-food tycoons and megachurches is a wicked new comedy that rocks the foundations of trust, faith and redemption. Given just days to live, multi-millionaire Archibald Organdy rejects costly experimental treatment and opts to face his end surrounded by his loving family. However, things could be about to change. Arriving in Atlanta the flamboyant Archbishop Tardimus Toof, a prophet, preacher and part-time masseur promises to absolve Archibald's sins and heal his disease. But his family suspects there's more to this healer than faith, virtue and snakeskin shoes. This programme text was published to coincides with the world premiere at the Tricycle Theatre, London, which opened on 8 October 2015.

Marcus Gardley is a poet-playwright who was awarded the 2011 PEN/Laura Pels award for Mid-Career Playwright. His play Every Tongue Confess premiered at Arena Stage, Washington. His musical, On The Levee, premiered at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater and was nominated for 11 Audelco Awards including outstanding playwright. His play, And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, was produced at The Cutting Ball Theater, San Francisco, and received the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award nomination for outstanding new play. It is published in The Methuen Drama Book of Post-Black Plays. The House That Will Not Stand, a critical success which premiered at the Tricycle Theatre, London, in 2014, was published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama.

This play has so much going for it. * The Times * Gardley's modern take on Moliere contains moments of real dazzle . . . There are big laughs here * Evening Standard * bags of energy and linguistic brio * Guardian * the story achieves the balance of farcical madness and narrative logic found in a good Moliere production. * Daily Mail * Garley's script is largely written in sparkling verse, combining deep south African-American intonations with comic internal rhymes; it's technically impressive * Time Out London * Gardley writes with tremendous verve, producing witty, whyming swashbuckling monologues . . . There's an energy and zing to the play * Financial Times * The knockout orations sizzle. * Observer * a hoot . . . Gardley's text is written in a lively and highly coloured verse whose rhymes are both comic and serve to underline its sparkling ideas. With some big themes of religious healing, curing gays, exploring roots, and the relationship between men and women, this is a spirited satire whose cartoon characters occasionally reveal unexpected depths. . . . Politically incorrect, often humorous, occasionally moving, this is a superior adaptation that proves that American playwriting is alive and well. * Tribune *