He likes the idea of a “troupe play, written not for the Court but for the people”, and premiered in 1671 at the Palais-Royal during a period of construction work. For this play, Molière was free of the constraints of comédies-ballets and machinery-driven comedies: it was “pure theatre”, offering the director a great freedom.
The action is set in Naples, a door opening to an imagined maritime world stretching towards the Orient. Faced with two authoritarian fathers, two sons, both thwarted lovers, turn to the crafty Scapin, driven by a mad desire for revenge. The character is a double of Scaramouche, the Italian actor of the adventurous life whom Molière admired: “to tell you the truth, there are few things that are impossible for me, when I put my mind to them”. While the buffoonish servant gets beaten with a stick, and gives as good as he gets in the famous scene with the sack, Denis Podalydès recalls that he derives his name from the Italian verb scappare which means “to escape”, “to scamper off”. There then follows, in an ambiance of ransom demands and paternal contradictions, an avalanche of stratagems and other tricks which the author excelled in depicting.

All audiences, from age 8 years onwards

In cinemas on 26 oct with Pathé Live

Afin de permettre au plus grand nombre d’assister à la représentation du spectacle, Pathé Live diffusera Les Fourberies de Scapin en direct de la salle Richelieu, le jeudi 26 octobre 2017 à 20h15, dans plus de 300 salles de cinéma dont 70 salles Gaumont et Pathé.

Des reprises au cinéma sont proposées du 12 novembre 2017 au 31 janvier 2018 dans plus de 400 salles de cinéma.
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Retrouvez le dossier pédagogique Pièce (dé)montée établi par Réseau Canopé

ON 24 MAY 1671, Molière premiered his new play, Les Fourberies de Scapin (Scapin the Schemer), which was poorly received by the Parisian public. This highly surprising failure was in fact due to circumstance: the Palais Royal theatre was in the middle of an interminable renovation with a view to staging the sumptuous “highlight” of the season, Psyché, which the court had already had the privilege of discovering and which Paris was impatiently awaiting.

One has to wonder then: was the purpose of the play simply to keep audiences occupied while they waited for the much anticipated tragedy-ballet? In performance terms, however, Scapin clearly had the makings of a great spectacle, with Molière himself playing the title role. La Thorillière as a “furious rapier-wielder”, and Mademoiselle Beauval as Zerbinette contributed just as significantly: indeed the latter was known for her infectious, booming laugh, and the author composed the role with her in mind. But as Boileau commented, the play disappointed lovers of “charming comedies”, no doubt for being too close in spirit to the commedia dell’arte. Conceived with an economy of means for a staging that requires neither imposing sets nor machines, it is very likely that the play appeared too simple to contemporaries and out of step with the new vogue for entertainments featuring singing and dancing.

In short, it was too pure a form of theatre, lacking in embellishments.

As is often the case, future success proved contemporary tastes wrong, since, after the author’s death, the play went on to become a huge hit. Today, it is one of the most frequently staged plays in the French Repertoire, including abroad. On 20 September 2017, on the opening night of Denis Podalydès’ new staging, the Comédiens-Français will have performed it 1,495 times since 1680.

• Visual: Les Fourberies de Scapin by Devéria, [1831] – Photo. Lorette

Staging: Denis Podalydès
Scenography: Éric Ruf
Costumes: Christian Lacroix
Lights: Stéphanie Daniel
Sounds: Bernard Valéry
Make-up: Véronique Soulier-Nguyen
Collaboration: Leslie Menu
Assistant stage manager: Alison Hornus
Assistant scenography: Dominique Schmitt