Chapter 32 - Molière in Performance: Twentieth- and Twenty- First-Century Productions

Summary

One of the most significant developments over the last fifty years has been the study of Molière in performance. His plays have been a major box-office success in France, and a fixture in the repertoire of the Comédie-Française, thereby justifying its historic entitlement to the popular designation as the ‘Maison de Molière’ (House of Molière). This chapter looks at the contribution directors have made over the last 120 years to a fresh understanding of the plays. The diversity of approaches maps the broad shift in theoretical perspectives, from the largely historicist attempts to recreate the early staging to some of the many rereadings that reflect the changing cultural, social and political agendas, which transcend the original context of the first performances. The productions studied raise interesting questions with regard to Molière’s stagecraft, highlight the divided critical opinion regarding generic specifications, and show the richness of Molière’s work that continues to resonate with each new generation of theatregoers.