Characters: 9 male, 4 female

Scenery: Interior

This translation of Moliere's classic depiction of hypocrisy in action was done for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

"The assumption behind this ferociously brilliant production is that Tartuffe is much too serious and alarming a work to be insulated behind any English equivalent of French classical style. The greatest compliment I can bestow on Hampton's translation is that...you hardly notice it. Plain, perfectly phrased blank verse does the job."-London Times

Farce / Characters: 8 males, 4 females

Scenery: Interior

The famous hypochondriac in this classic farce not only complains of a million imaginary ills, but also of his astronomical medical bills. If he marries his daughter to a doctor, he reasons, he will have free medical care. He chooses a double-Latin talking numbskull without consulting the daughter who is already smitten by another. The inventive maid exposes the doctyor and his father as charlatans and demonstrates to the master that his second wife loves his money, not him. Thus are truth and love triumphant and all troubles, real and imaginary, relieved by laughter.

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Moliere's most-admired comedy of manners, about a man whose quickness to criticise the flaws in others, and in himself, leads him into deep trouble. Alceste, the 'misanthrope', hates all mankind, and despairs of its hypocrisy and falseness. He believes that the world could be perfected if people were more honest with each other. But when his honesty starts to make him enemies, and the target of malicious gossips, it is his world and his life which suffer. The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover (Le Misanthrope ou l'Atrabilaire amoureux) was first performed in 1666 at the Theatre du Palais-Royal, Paris. This English version, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Stephen Mulrine.

Prudence Steiner's lively prose translations remain close to the original French, giving us the speech of the characters in a slightly compressed and formalized language that echoes the effect created by Moliere's verse. Roger Herzel's thoughtful Introduction discusses Moliere's life; Tartuffe , The Misanthrope , and the comic tradition; and the setting, casting, and style of the plays.

A reworking of Moliere's comic play. Alceste abhors hypocrisy and the well-rehearsed, sycophantic pleasantries of the chattering classes. He tells the truth, even it hurts. Alceste is in love with Jennifer (Celimene), but thinks she's in love with a theatre critic who thinks he can write plays.

Two timeless comedies by one of France's greatest playwrights appear here: Tartuffe, a 1664 verse comedy concerning a scoundrel who impersonates a holy man, and the 1670 prose farce The Bourgeois Gentleman, a lampoon of Parisian society with a central character who attempts to adopt the superficial characteristics of the nobility. Original French texts with excellent English interpretations on facing pages. Introduction. Footnotes.

Such Foolish Affected Ladies/ Tartuffe/ The Misanthrope/ The Doctor Despite Himself/The Would-be Gentleman/ Those Learned Ladies

‘Let’s not worry about the manners of the age and make more allowance for human nature. Let’s judge it less severely and look more kindly on its faults’

The six plays collected in this volume illustrate Moliere’s broad range of comic devices, from satire and farce to slapstick and sophisticated wit and wordplay. In Tartuffe and The Doctor Despite Himself, Moliere shows us the foolishness of those taken in by a religious hypocrite and a bogus physician, while Such Foolish Affected Ladies and Those Learned Ladies are a humorous attack on the excessive refinement and pedantry of the Parisian smart set. And in The Misanthrope and The Would-Be Gentleman Moliere warn us of the dangers of obsession and intolerance.  Exposing duplicity, mocking snobbery and revealing the horrors of hypocrisy, Moliere’s plays are masterly studies in the absurdities of human nature.
 
All of the humour and panache of the original French has been preserved in John Wood’s translation. In his introduction, David Coward discusses the reception each play received when it was first performed and how this has changed over the centuries. This edition also includes a chronology, bibliography and notes.

Orgon is the man who has everything. Money, power, a beautiful family. But lately he's been questioning the point of it all. When he invites Tartuffe into his perfect household, he unleashes a whirlwind of deception and seduction that threatens everything. With Orgon under Tartuffe's spell, can his family outwit this charismatic trickster? Are Tartuffe's wild claims truth or fiction? This mysterious stranger may not be quite the villain he appears. John Donnelly's ferocious new version of Moliere's comic masterpiece looks at the lengths we go to find meaning - and what happens when we find chaos instead. Tartuffe, the Imposter opened at the National Theatre, London, in February 2019.

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Moliere's classic farce, Le Malade Imaginaire, in a fresh and performable translation. The 'imaginary invalid' Argan is so obsessed with his health that he fails to notice what is happening around him in his own family. His scheming wife and loving daughter are finally revealed to him in their true light by Argan's brother, who poses as a quack doctor and suggests he feigns death to test their loyalty. This English version of Moliere's The Hypochondriac, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Martin Sorrell.

Ms. Thomas' previous and similar rollicking version of Moliere's Les Femmes Savantes delighted audiences off-Broadway in 1991, in a production starring Jean Stapleton as Philamente, a blossoming literary lady on the verge of coming into her own. It was re-imagined in 1993 at ACT in San Francisco, with many productions throughout the country since then. During the Salon movement of the 17th century, women, thirsty for knowledge and freedom, began to read, discuss and absorb all the learni

His biting satire, witty dialogue, and irreverent staging have made him a favorite with theatergoers for four centuries. This Norton Critical Edition of Moliere s most controversial and most often-performed play is based on Constance Congdon s acclaimed new verse translation. It is accompanied by explanatory annotations and nine illustrations of the seventeenth-century farce.

Backgrounds and Sources draws readers attention to the real-life controversy Moliere faced following the opening of Tartuffe, which was immediately banned by the Church. Both sides of the argument surrounding Tartuffe are presented in contemporary documents translated and annotated by Virginia Scott, among them Moliere s three petitions to King Louis XIV, Pierre Roulle on the monarchy, letters by Boileau and Charles Robinet, and Hardouin de Perefixe on the law.

Assessments of Tartuffe as a production are given in seminal reviews by Harold Clurman and John Peter. Constantin Stanislavsky and Louis Jovet discuss the challenges they faced in preparing for modern productions of Tartuffe.

From the wealth of critical commentary on Tartuffe both in the United States and in France, the editors have chosen nine interpretations focusing on the central issues of translation, religion, social history, staging, and international adaptation. Contributors include Nancy Senior, Emanuel S. Chill, Roger W. Herzel, P. Munoz Simonds, Pamela Saur, William J. Beck, Mechele Leon, Wilma Newberry, and Cheryl Kennedy McFarren.

A Chronology of Moliere s life and work and a Chronology are included."

Adapted from Moliere by Charles Jeffries and Luis Mu oz

Comedy

Characters: 8 male, 7 female

So virtuous is Tartuffe that every form of pleasure is an abomination to him. Orgon, a rich merchant, is completely duped by the ruse and watches approvingly as the cunning Tartuffe "reforms" his whole family. So besotted is the merchant that he even plans to give Tartuffe his fortune, his house, and finally his daughter! Orgon's wife finally exposes Tartuffe for the rogue he is -- and her husband for being a gullible fool. By the time Orgon sees the light, only the courts can insure justice. This clever adaptation of the Moliere classic calls for an energetic ensemble. Moliere's greatest work is expertly adapted for one-act competition by the authors of The Beggar's Opera, The Merry Wives of Winsor, Valpone

Comedy / 6m, 5f / Int. This modern adaptation casts Tartuffe as a deposed televangelist who rooks Orgon and his family of their money and property and nearly compromises Orgon's wife. The action takes place in a religious television studio in Baton Rouge where the characters cavort to either prevent or aid Tartuffe in his machinations. Written in modern verse, Tartuffe: Born Again adheres closely to the structure and form of the original. Moliere's legendary comedic characters are delightfully at home in this modern day version that played at New York's Circle in the Square.

Moliere's beloved comedy features a rising member of the middle class who lusts for social status and higher learning. The strength of the play lies in its rich comic invention and its sure delineation of character. Underlying themes are: social striving, financial greed, and love's ingenuity.

Trece anos despues de Las preciosas ridiculas Moliere vuelve con Las mujeres sabias al mundo de pedantes mujeres a las que embauca el primer charlatan recien llegado, utilizando en ambas el mismo tono comico y farsesco. Las preciosas ridiculas sera la pieza inaugural de la etapa donde presenta en el marco social del espectador tipos humanos reconocibles, que cargaran sobre si el estigma de un defecto. En Las mujeres sabias ahonda caracteres y situaciones con mayor profundidad.