Six hilarious satires from the ingenious Molière, France’s original master of comedies:
The Bungler:
In seventeeth-century Sicily, a clever valet named Mascarille tries to help
his boss Lélie win the girl of his dreams…only to find that Lélie is a
monumental dunce who ruins every one of his intricate schemes. Performed
by Richard Easton, et al.
The Imaginary Cuckold: Brian
Bedford stars as the enraged husband who imagines his wife is
unfaithful, but becomes reluctant to defend his honor in this grand
farce of hysterical coincidences, frenzied confusion and mistaken
identities – the most widely performed Molière play in his lifetime.
Performed by: Brian Bedford, Joanne Whalley, et al.
The School for Husbands:
Sganarelle, a tyrannical old buffoon of a husband-to-be, seeks to
isolate his young ward, while unwittingly carrying her messages of
devotion to her lover. Performed by: Brian Bedford, Emily Bergl, et al.
The School for Wives:
In this biting comedy of errors, the hapless Arnolphe is undone by his
own double dealing and double standards. This play is considered by many
to be Molière’s masterpiece, and Wilbur’s subtle verse translation
illuminates the great master of comedy at his wittiest. Performed by:
William Brown, et al.
Tartuffe: Initially banned in by
King Louis XIV, Molière’s most famous satire exposes hypocrisy in the
Catholic Church. A pious fraud manipulates the patriarch of a wealthy
family into giving up his fortune, and it’s up to his family to expose
the truth before they end up in the poor house. Performed by: Brian
Bedford, Martin Jarvis, et al.
The Misanthrope:
Razor-sharp wit inflames a competitive game of survival in the salons of seventeenth-century France. In this world of “finest appearances”, one man’s
blunt honesty shatters his society’s delicate web of manners in what is
often considered to be Molière’s Hamlet. Performed by: Harry Althaus, et
al.
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