MOLIERE'S play was adapted from the French by the poet Roger McGough and was a hit in Liverpool in 2008.

Revived and taken on the road by English Touring Theatre, it arrived in Newcastle garlanded with good reviews and with the weight of expectation upon it.

The story, at least as we have it here, is a simple one. Tartuffe, the imposter, has impressed Orgon – and Orgon’s vinegary mum, Madame Pernelle – with his ostentatious piety.

To all other members of the household, including maid Dorine, Orgon’s son Damis – played as a Blackadder lookalike – and daughter Mariane, it’s as if Tartuffe has “imposter” tattooed on his forehead. Convincing Orgon of the man’s deviousness is what it’s all about.

And that, I’m afraid, wasn’t quite enough for me. There’s no hint of a sub-plot and while McGough’s rhyming couplets throw up some giggles (“interloper” rhyming with “faux pas”, “cuckold” with “took hold”, “arousal” with “spouse’ll”) the energetic cast seemed to be working themselves into a lather to generate laughter in a packed house.

There were some giggles and, inevitably, things picked up after the interval drinks.

The schoolgirls in front of me seemed to enjoy the moments of farce which help to propel Marianne – promised to the bounder Tartuffe by her dad – back into the arms of her nimble-footed lover, Valere.

I liked the idea of Colin Tierney’s Tartuffe speaking in contrasting blank verse, but in too many areas I found it wanting. Lumbered with a thin plot, director Gemma Bodinetz took a sledgehammer to comedy and failed to crack it.