After attending a performance of Moliere's Tartuffe at Berkeley Rep and asked for feedback on the performance.
I had been warned that the show was dark, disconcerting and this side of disturbing, which piqued my interest in just such a theatre experience. Berkeley Rep never disappoints in your thought-provoking and cutting-edge productions.
I have never heard 'congratulatory booing' from an appreciative audience applauding an actor's bravura performance… until Steven Epp's portrayal of Tartuffe. He has proved himself likable and entertaining in the past and he continues to be a one-of-a-kind performer… It is no small accomplishment to dance on the thin edge of the wedge between love and hate from a crowd so torn between the success of a portrayal and the deep visceral disgust for the character and his machinations. Bravo, you bastard!
Suzanne Warmanen's reasonable and feacetious indignation & Nathan Keepers's silent background ballet and mincing interplay were equally splendid standouts and incredibly enjoyable as a balance to the dispicable delight of Epp. I'm still awed by the animosity and anger he wrangled from me last night. Thank you Berkeley Rep for rattling my cage.