Acting Edition S.
6 total works
"The religious fraud Tartuffe has wormed his way into the affections and household of rich merchant, Orgon, with pantomime piety and counterfeit zeal. So comprehensively has he hoodwinked Orgon that he looks set to succeed in driving away the son, marrying the daughter, seducing the wife and imprisoning Orgon. Moliere's classic satire was denounced on its first performance as a sacrilegious outrage and banned from further public view. Only after petition to Louis XIV was the ban lifted, and the play's trenchant mockery of human frailties has ensured its popularity ever since."
"Monsieur Jordan is greedy for culture at all costs and aspired to dizzy social heights. Moliere's ferociously funny interchanges between the gullible hero and a succession of dancing masters, philosophy tutors, dubious tailors and penniless aristocrats make this a hugely enjoyable play which exposes the hypocrisy of the connoisseur. This adaptation of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme was produced at the National Theatre to great acclaim. "
To reduce his medical fees, hypochondriac M. Argan decides to marry off his daughter Angelica to a physician's son. Unfortunately, Angelica loves Cl ante. Argan's brother B ralde and Toinette, an inventive maid, save the situation for the lovers and expose Mme Argan's schemes to bleed her husband of his fortune. Then they persuade the hypochondriac to turn physician so that he can quack himself free of charge.4 women, 8 men
I declare I cannot rest anywhere; my mind is troubled by a thousand cares, thinking how to contrive, both indoors and out, so as to frustrate the attempts of this coxcomb. With what assurance the traitress stood the sight of me! She is not a whit moved by all that she has done, and though she has brought me within an inch of the grave, one could swear, to look at her, that she had no hand in it.
One of the funniest plays in dramatic literature, this modern version abounds with laughter. Th e son and daughter of the miser fall in love and are about to declare their intentions when the miser announces his own wedding plans: he, to the girl with whom his son is in love, and his wealthy friend, to his daughter. Aft er a few rollicking laps around the block in which the miser's hidden treasure figures, it is revealed that the rich friend is the long lost father of the boy who loves the miser's daughter and of the girl who is loved by the miser's son.-3 women, 11 men
This audacious adaptation of Les Femmes Savantes, Moliere's mischievous farce inditing intellectual ladies of the salons, is liberally peppered with contemporary allusions which put it firmly in the present.-5 women, 5 men