Joe Staton talks Tartuffe

An interview by Melanie Liebetrau, August 23, 2021

Joining the cast of Team Theatre’s 2022 production of Tartuffe by Molière is actor, producer and director Joe Staton. A British actor from Somerset who seems to have a great affinity for classical theatre, Staton shall be portraying Orgon, an incredibly complex character who doesn’t exactly behave well throughout the play, as a result of Tartuffe’s “infatuating spell”. He is excited to be tackling the role and is thrilled to be involved in the project.

Rehearsals for Tartuffe will begin in January, 2022. Ticket information shall be released around the same time. 

Q: What appeals to you about this production?

First off, the chance to work with Team Theatre. I think they do fantastic work. Dorothea Gloria has worked with my company, the Blind Cupid Shakespeare Company, in the past and I’ve had the privilege of seeing her in other productions too. I relish any opportunity to work with her. And I know most of the other members too from way back and they’re all extremely creative, passionate actors. Secondly, I’ve always wanted to be involved in a production by Molière. I lived in France when I was younger and therefore I’ve always felt a certain connection to all things French and Molière is such a fun playwright. Tartuffe was actually the first of his plays that I’d ever read and so this is very special to me. I’m extremely excited.

Q: What can you tell us about your character?

Ah, Orgon. What can I say about him? There’s many ways of describing him: a fool, an idiot, gullible, often the butt of a joke - he’s someone who used to be considered quite wise but unfortunately slipped on a banana that was planted by Tartuffe. We haven’t started rehearsals yet and I’ve yet to meet all of the cast members and so there’s still plenty to discover so it could be that I’ll have a whole new perspective on him in a few months! In any case, he may be seen as a fool but there’s a lot of good in him as well. He shows a lot of loyalty, not always in the most intelligent ways but nevertheless there is a great deal of heart to his character that I’m so excited to explore. 

Q: What makes Tartuffe relevant today?

I think it’s interesting because I have a lot of thoughts on this - most people consider Tartuffe to be an attack on religion but critics tend to agree that it satirizes hypocrisy more than religion and I agree. And I think that there’s still plenty of that around nowadays. I don’t want to get into a whole religious debate here but when you look at the state of the world, particularly in the United States, there’s still plenty of religious hypocrisy running rampant. And I think that humor is the best way of laying that out. And Tartuffe is absolutely hilarious. 

Q: Rehearsals won’t begin for a number of months. What are you up to in the meantime?

Right now, I am directing a production of a play entitled KNOCK KNOCK by Floyd Toulet that is headed to the Etcetera Theatre in London in November. It’s a fascinating play about multiple personality disorder - very different to Tartuffe! I’ll be excited to work on a comedy after all that intensity! I’m also acting in some street theatre in the town of Deal in Kent, England. It’s called Dastardly Deal and I play a number of different characters every week until the end of summer. It’s with a group called ReShake Theatre who have teamed up with another group called the History Project who are seeking to use street theatre as a medium to educate audiences about the history of Deal. It’s a lot of fun!