Le Misanthrope: an incisive exploration of Molière at the Athénée Théâtre

Until March 30, 2025, Georges Lavaudant directs Molière's "Le Misanthrope" at the Athénée Théâtre, a plunge into the contradictions of "true speech" and the power games of love and society.

Written in 1666, Le Misanthrope features Alceste (Eric Elmosnino), a man rebelling against the hypocrisy of society, but paradoxically in love with Célimène, a young socialite widow whose charm lies in her art of seduction and double-dealing. Between moral demands and contradictory desires, Alceste comes up against a world where absolute honesty seems impossible.

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Georges Lavaudant, known for his rigorous approach to the classics, should restore the richness and ambiguity of this work. Le Misanthrope is neither light comedy nor pure tragedy: it oscillates between social satire, existential reflection and theater of the absurd. In this reading, the staging is designed to be as close as possible to the words and bodies, bringing out all the modernity of Molière's text.

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Louis Jouvet summed up Le Misanthrope as "the comedy of a man who wants to have a decisive conversation with a woman he loves and who, at the end of the day, hasn't succeeded". This impossibility of communication is at the heart of the play, in which each character plays a role in a society governed by appearances and manipulation. The play leaves open an essential question: can one be sincere without encountering the incomprehension of others?

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This version of Le Misanthrope will appeal to fans of uncluttered stagings and text-based theater, highlighting the musicality and strength of Molière's language. Those seeking a modernized reading with a radical transposition may be surprised by this approach, which favors fidelity to the original spirit of the play.

This article is based on information available about the show and is not based on direct viewing.

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