Molière. Original Revisitations

Abstract

The article approaches the reinterpretation of Molière’s plays through contemporary perspectives and taking into account the expectations of the audience. Since the twentieth century, the director has become co-author with the playwright, reading between the lines and searching for new meanings in the subtext. The director’s creative approach re-signifies canonical texts atesting their validity over time. Silviu Purcărete turns the stakes of Dom Juan upside down by transforming the eternal conqueror into a woman. Constructing stage situations in tandem or deliberately in contradiction with the text is a catching technique that the stage director uses to energize the performance. On the other hand, the Molière trilogy (Le ciel, La nuit, La fête/Tartuffe, Dom Juan, Psyché) staged by members of “Le Nouveau Théâtre Populaire” portrays a Molière whose work is still germinating creative ideas. Always performing on wooden platforms, the actors jump effortlessly from one style to another, from one role to another, central or supporting the others, from prose to verse, rigorously, precisely, musically, from text to concert. An inventive tour de force.