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AUTHOR: Marianne Ackerman ISBN: 0921833091
It is 14 years since the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and 2 years before the American Revolution. The British garrison in Montreal is rehearsing Molière's Tartuffe, hoping to impress the local ladies with their French effort. Matters are complicated by the Church, however, which had banned theatre productions in Québec since 1694, and is especially loathe to allow a production of the blasphemous Tartuffe. Political intrigue gets in the way too, as locals and officers get swept up the romance of the revolution to the south, plotting treason in Québec. And, naturally, there is love—alliances of the heart which respect no political, cultural or linguistic borders.
L'Affaire Tartuffe is inspired by historical fact: the first performance by anglophones in Québec was put on by British garrison officers stationed in Montreal. They chose to debut with Molière...and they performed in French. Ackerman weaves a riveting drama of cross-cultural love affairs, the stranglehold of Church and State, and the seditious plans to join the Yankees to the south.
REVIEWS: "...a theatrical achievement of epic proportions....L'Affaire Tartuffe may well be considered an important milestone in the history of theatre in Montreal in either of its two languages." —The Suburban
"It's a play of sweeping
scope, Shakespearean ambition, worthy intentions and delicious flashes
of sniping wit. And it takes its cue from an actual event. In 1774, British
garrison officers performed two Molière plays in Montreal."
"A more timely political piece of stagecraft would be hard to imagine. The Bloc would hate it. So would the Reform Party. The mainstream feds should go down on their knees and wish they'd siphoned off some of it for their enfeebled campaign. —The Toronto Star
"A magnificent play, a real tour de force." —La Presse Other
Signature titles by Marianne Ackerman: |
L'Affaire
Tartuffe, or The Garrison Officers Rehearse Molière
ABOUT THE BOOK: