The Misanthrope (Der Menschenfeind)
by Molière
Alceste loves Célimène, but the young widow he tries to court strings him along. Impatiently, he goes to her palace to extract a clear statement from her. There he meets friends, competitors and women who are worthy of him. Alceste has a reputation for being exhausting, smart, witty, wealthy and full of hatred for the society which he is a part of and which is also a part of him. He lashes out, hurls damaging insults, preaches the unconditional truth, the non-compromise and the escape from the world as the only possible path.
The Misanthrope is probably Molière's most autobiographical play. At the court of Louis XIV, a clearheaded, easily seduced playwright who succumbed to a woman 21 years his junior knew perfectly well that nothing was funnier than a man caught in the vortex of his own flaws. He saw through the mechanisms of the court and its power hierarchy. On the other hand, he also recognised people's natural selfishness and saw the need for a social contract. But what would such a vision look like?
Winner of the Friedrich-Luft-Award 2020
Invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen 2020
Invited to the Hamburg Theatre Festival 2020
The Misanthrope is probably Molière's most autobiographical play. At the court of Louis XIV, a clearheaded, easily seduced playwright who succumbed to a woman 21 years his junior knew perfectly well that nothing was funnier than a man caught in the vortex of his own flaws. He saw through the mechanisms of the court and its power hierarchy. On the other hand, he also recognised people's natural selfishness and saw the need for a social contract. But what would such a vision look like?
Winner of the Friedrich-Luft-Award 2020
Invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen 2020
Invited to the Hamburg Theatre Festival 2020
Director Anne Lenk
Stage design Florian Lösche
Costumes Sibylle Wallum
Music Camill Jammal
Video Jens Kuffel
Light Matthias Vogel
Dramaturgy Sonja Anders
Premiere
29 March 2019, Deutsches Theater
29 March 2019, Deutsches Theater
Ulrich MatthesAlceste
Manuel HarderPhilinte
Franziska MachensCélimène
Lisa HrdinaÉliante
Judith HofmannArsinoé
Timo WeisschnurOronte
Jeremy MockridgeAcaste
Elias ArensClitandre
Alceste
Philinte
Célimène
Éliante
Arsinoé
Oronte
Acaste
Clitandre
[...]
With its brooding and moral indignation, Matthes’s interpretation has a touch of Hamlet in it, which helps make this “Misanthrope” the weightier — and more German — of Berlin’s two current Molière offerings. Lenk’s sure-footed direction is drier and wrier than Fritsch’s.
Molière’s sparkling wit still comes through beautifully, but Lenk resists succumbing to silliness the way Fritsch does [...]
Lenk makes clear the moral stakes of Alceste’s behavior and never lets us lose sight of the consequences of his intransigence;
Ulrich Matthes leads a strong cast as the cantankerous, rude and generally unpleasant Alceste, who despises the hypocrisy of polite society.
[...]
With its brooding and moral indignation, Matthes’s interpretation has a touch of Hamlet in it, which helps make this “Misanthrope” the weightier — and more German — of Berlin’s two current Molière offerings. Lenk’s sure-footed direction is drier and wrier than Fritsch’s.
Molière’s sparkling wit still comes through beautifully, but Lenk resists succumbing to silliness the way Fritsch does [...]
Lenk makes clear the moral stakes of Alceste’s behavior and never lets us lose sight of the consequences of his intransigence;