For Molière, 1665 –the year when The Misanthrope was written– was a year of betrayal: that of Racine, who gave his tragedy Alexander the Great to the troupe of the Hôtel de Bourgogne, after the failure of its first production by Molière’s troupe at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. Can one detect autobiographical resonances in Alceste’s black humour, who, to hate one person, decides to hate the whole world? Clément Hervieu-Léger, Sociétaire at the Comédie-Française, explores the temperament of the “cantankerous lover”, his struggle against the weariness of self and loneliness. The work shows us a society free of parental and religious influence whose social veneer is stripped away when desire surfaces.
Pushed to their limit by the radicality of an Alceste willing to give up any form of sociability, over the course of a day, the characters reveal the contradictions of a humanity that obeys its heart over reason. They form a social microcosm that is placed in an open space, outside a mansion that is being renovated, instead of in the cosy setting of a salon. The set is a moving space, a metaphor for the Repertoire, which, according to the director, should be: “evolving, completely of its century but nourished by previous centuries and already turning to the coming century. I belong to a repertory theatre, and I think that if we do not approach the works from a fresh perspective, then this repertory theatre has no reason to exist.”

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LE MISANTHROPE WAS PREMIERED ON 4 JUNE 1666 by Molière’s troupe at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. It took up themes first developed in La Critique de l’École des femmes and L’Impromptu de Versailles, minor salon comedies that had been very well received by audiences in 1663. It was to be a genuine but short-lived success. Molière played the role of Alceste, Armande Béjart played Célimène.

The era of typecasting

In 1672 Molière was in his forties and passed the role of Alceste on to the very young Baron, who was nineteen at the time. La Grange then took it on and performed it until his death in 1692, alongside Armande Béjart. From 1741, Grandval took over the role, injecting it with a certain violence: he grabbed an armchair, flung it at the other end of the stage and sat with his back turned to Philinte. He played opposite Madame Préville, who was a great Célimène. It was Molé who really changed the public’s perception of Alceste, interpreting him in a much more contrasted way as someone inhabited by passion that went so far as to cause extreme violence. From 1783, he performed the play with Mademoiselle Contat, a student of Madame Préville, who, in turn, taught the role to Mademoiselle Mars. Insolent and cruel as Célimène, she added the device of the fan through her own invention, something her student copied. In 1837, a new production was given in Versailles for the inauguration of the museum, with magnificent seventeenth-century costumes designed by Paul Lormier and paid for by Louis-Philippe. Until then, Molière’s comedies had been performed in period costume. Mademoiselle Mars participated in this production. Just like Mademoiselle Contat, her Parisian salon and wit were sought by everyone and she played Célimène with a measured grace and spirit.

The era of the director

In 1878, the administrator Émile Perrin proposed a new cast. Delaunay, typically cast as the hero of Musset plays, made for a charming Alceste opposite Sophie Croizette. Worms perpetuated this new, seductive Alceste while adding a subtle dose of melancholy. Cécile Sorel was cast as Célimène, a choice that met little argument so brightly did she shine in the role. Whereas Alceste’s comic dimension was emphasised on other stages (Coquelin, Lucien Guitry), Albert-Lambert composed a measured Alceste opposite Mary Marquet.
In 1936, the first modern production of Le Misanthrope was proposed by Jacques Copeau with Marie Bell as Célimène and Aimé Clariond as Alceste. From that date on, the logic of casting according to type was somewhat abandoned and Le Misanthrope became all the more a “troupe play” in that the actors adopted different roles in the cast according to their ages and the stagings. It was regularly restaged, by Pierre Dux in 1947, Jacques Charon in 1963, Jean-Luc Boutté and Catherine Hiegel in 1975, Pierre Dux in 1977, Jean-Pierre Vincent in 1984, Simon Eine in 1989, Jean-Pierre Miquel at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in 2000, and Lukas Hemleb in 2007.
By partly reusing the cast of La Critique de l’École des femmes, which he directed in 2011, Clément Hervieu-Léger continues the interrupted dialogue with the short play and perpetuates the acting practices of Molière’s troupe.

• Visual: Le Misanthrope by Molière, 1936, with Jean Debucourt, Aimé Clariond, Pierre Bertin – photo. Manuel frères, coll. CF

Directed by: Clément Hervieu-Léger
Scenography: Éric Ruf
Costumes: Caroline de Vivaise
Lights: Bertrand Couderc
Music: Pascal Sangla
Sound: Jean-Luc Ristord
Hairdressing: Fabrice Elineau
Direction assistant: Juliette Léger
Scenography assistant: Dominique Schmitt