Malthouse Theatre to stage Tartuffe with an AI robot — ABC News Australia

In Melbourne, Australia, Malthouse Theatre will present a new adaptation of Molière’s play Tartuffe in its 2027 season, written by actor and playwright Eddie Perfect. In his version, Tartuffe — the falsely pious swindler from the original 17th-century satire — will be replaced by an artificial intelligence robot hairdresser, ABC News Australia reports.

Perfect will also play Orgon, the master of the house whom Tartuffe ingratiates himself with in the classic play. The production of The Tartuffe will feature his Beetlejuice musical colleague Karis Oka and comedian Noah Szto, who will play the AI robot.

A satire about technology

According to Perfect, the idea for a contemporary version of Tartuffe was influenced by his reflections on the development of artificial intelligence. He is critical of teenagers’ use of chatbots, believing that the technology can replace the process of thinking. At the same time, the playwright said he sees useful applications for AI, including translation and learning new skills, but opposes its use to replace people’s creative work.

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The production is described as a black comedy. Malthouse artistic director Dean Bryant stressed that theatre is a shared human experience that cannot be recreated with artificial intelligence. According to him, a story about a family trying to connect with one another through technology will resonate especially strongly on the theatre stage.

A season of new Australian productions

The Tartuffe will be part of Malthouse’s 2027 season of eight productions, the first assembled by Bryant after he became the theatre’s artistic director in October 2025. The season will consist exclusively of Australian works, with seven productions receiving world premieres.

The programme also includes an adaptation of Charlotte Wood’s novel Stone Yard Devotional, a solo performance based on Henry James’s Gothic novel The Turn of the Screw, and a new version of Gone with the Wind by theatre collective Bloomshed. Separately, Malthouse will present new plays: Eve Blake’s Jackpot, about intergenerational inequality, and Thomas Weatherall’s Lucy, a drama about intimate relationships.