BELL SHAKESPEARE IN ASSOCIATION WITH GRIFFIN THEATRE COMPANY.

A HANDY GUIDE TO BLUFFING YOUR WAY THROUGH.BY ANDY MCLEAN.

BY MOLIÈRE. A NEW VERSION BY JUSTIN FLEMING. DIRECTOR LEE LEWIS.

The Misanthrope

A Handy Guide to Bluffing Your Way Through

Bell Shakespeare

2

Sharp-tongued Alceste is infuriated by phoniness and argues with her BFF Philippa about the merits of honesty versus flattery. Then singer and social media sensation Orton struts onto stage, but Alceste lets rip, pulling Orton’s lyrics to pieces.

Next in the firing line is Alceste’s love interest, Cymbeline. Alceste accuses Cymbeline of being false and a flirt, but Cymbeline assures Alceste he only has eyes for her. Bang on cue, two of Cymbeline’s admirers show up: Angus and Cleveland. Cymbeline’s sister Eleanor then joins the group, and they indulge in a good gossip – much to Alceste’s disgust.

Angus and Cleveland make a gentleman’s pact that they will compete for Cymbeline’s affections. Though Cymbeline is indifferent to both of them, he delights in the adulation.

Next we meet the ageing hipster Arsenio, who has a thing for Alceste. Cymbeline sees this a mile off, and the two engage in a bitchy character assassination of one another.

Orton marches up to Alceste demanding a public debate about the merits of his songwriting prowess. True to form, Alceste pulls no punches in her criticism, leaving Orton even more outraged.

Meanwhile, Cymbeline’s sister Eleanor reveals that she too has the hots for Alceste, while Philippa admits she is falling for Eleanor. (At this rate, nobody is going to have a happy ending.)

Finally it’s revealed that Cymbeline has been stringing along just about everyone, flirting with and deceiving all his suitors. Exasperated by Cymbeline’s behaviour (and his complete lack of contrition) Alceste finally gives up on him and resolves to live life as a loner.

Bruised egos and broken hearts are littered across the stage, but true love prevails when Eleanor and Philippa agree to marry one another.

ALCESTE Says what she likes and likes what she says. Alceste is fed up with false flattery, fashionistas, and philistines. Also: human beings in general.

CYMBELINE Alceste’s squeeze is a man about town and a dedicated follower of fashion. Often appears fickle and flirtatious, but he’s deceptively bright.

PHILIPPA Somebody here has to be the voice of reason, and Alceste’s best friend Philippa is doing her best.

ELEANOR Cymbeline’s sister is a sharp observer of the social circus that surrounds her. While Philippa has the hots for her, Eleanor can’t help glancing in Alceste’s direction.

ARSENIO Cymbeline’s friend is a serial singleton who disapproves of just about everything and everyone – but carries a torch for Alceste.

ORTON A ball of bravado, vanity and self-doubt. Orton fancies himself as a poet but nobody else shares that view. Also fancies Cymbeline but that’s not reciprocated either.

ANGUS Angus loves Cymbeline almost as much as Angus loves himself. He will try anything to win Cymbeline’s affections.

CLEVELAND When he’s not too busy gossiping, Cleveland is also vying for the attention of Cymbeline.

SPEED READA quick flick through The Misanthrope

SOCIAL BUTTERFLIESThe Misanthrope character lowdown

The Misanthrope

A Handy Guide to Bluffing Your Way Through

Bell Shakespeare

3

Molière was born six years after William Shakespeare died, so the two playwrights never met – but it’s tempting to think that they would have got along famously.

The two men had a lot in common. Like Shakespeare, Molière was an actor as well as a writer, prepared to roll up his sleeves and become involved in the business side of theatre (Molière suffered for his art – serving two prison sentences for debts on the property and building of his theatre company in Paris). Like Shakespeare, Molière’s acting company performed regularly for their ruling monarch (The Misanthrope was first staged at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal for King Louis XIV in 1666).

Like Shakespeare, the enduring appeal of Molière’s plays is partly down to the ambiguity he imbues his characters with (or as Molière himself put it: “Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths”). As with Shakespeare, there has been some (very dubious) speculation that Molière did not actually write the plays attributed to him. And unfortunately, like Shakespeare, Molière only lived until his early 50s.

THE FRENCH ANSWER TO SHAKESPEARE

QUOTE UNQUOTE

Australian playwright Justin Fleming is something of a specialist when it comes to translating Molière’s work. In The Misanthope, Fleming toys with the audience by weaving rhyming schemes throughout the play.

Here’s a few tasters to get you in the mood:

—

You swamped that man with flattery, and oozed with purple panache; You protested, fawned and grovelled and were all over him like a rash.

—

I run into dear old Emily, whose makeup is as thick as glass; With rouge and haemorrhoid-red lipstick, her face like a smacked arse; At ninety-four, she’s had so much surgery, each eye is a yawning cave, Do I say “Darling Emily, one more facelift, you’ll need a shave”?

—

I’ve learnt how to hunt with the dogs, and to run with the slyest of foxes, So when it comes to applying for jobs, I can tick a shitload of boxes.

A man in a long black robe and with an equally black expression Was hammering on your kitchen door, with considerable aggression; He had a legal paper on which some orders were scribbled; He said it was none of my business, and his language became quite ribald;

—

Thank you, Madame, I’m no longer an obstacle to your cause. You may resolve this affair as you wish: the bastard is all yours.

The Misanthrope

A Handy Guide to Bluffing Your Way Through

Bell Shakespeare

4

THAT WAS THEN

Parisian writer Jean-Baptiste Poquelin loved the limelight and adopted the stage name Molière as his stage career was taking off. He flirted with controversy and his plays often scandalised the French establishment.

Molière died aged 51 shortly after collapsing on stage during a performance of one of his own plays, The Imaginary Invalid. Ironically, the play ridiculed medicine and doctors, and Molière was playing the titular hypochondriac. (Ever the pro, Molière finished his performance before leaving the stage and dying when he got home.)

Molière left no journals or letters behind, but he did leave plenty of enemies and salacious rumours. Though he had a wife, it was alleged that Molière enjoyed a homosexual relationship with a young protégé named Baron; and it is believed that his much-younger wife, Armande Bejart, was the daughter of his mistress.

THIS IS NOW

Down the centuries, The Misanthrope has been a magnet for big name actors and today’s Hollywood stars still find it irresistible. Uma Thurman performed in a 1999 Off-Broadway production and Keira Knightley starred in a Londonstage production in 2009 of Martin Crimp’s adaptation of the play.

Today, The Misanthrope is commonly described as Molière’s masterpiece but during his own lifetime it was a box office failure attracting only a cult following. How times change.

The Misanthrope follows on the heels of several other Molière adaptations from Bell Shakespeare. Previous productions that brought the house down include Justin Fleming translations of The School For Wives (2012), Tartuffe (2014) and The Literati (2016).

SAY WHAT?Post-show conversation starters to make you look smart

Image: The Misanthrope rehearsals © Brett Boardman

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