THE MISANTHROPE

By Molière

April 2023, directed by Chris Koslosky

The Misanthrope is what many consider Molière’s best play, a witty comedy of manners that posed in 1666 the same question we ask ourselves today: Why can’t we just be honest with other people?

The answer, of course, is that society would fall apart without those little white lies!

SUMMARY

In Molière’s world, there was the hypocrisy of the aristocracy and the ne’er do wells of the French court. Of course, in our day, the social lie has spread to well beyond the upper classes — just take a look at some of the heavily photo shopped and curated pictures posted on Instagram every day to see the new kinds of lies we tell ourselves and others!

In OrangeMite’s version of The Misanthrope, seventeenth century French costumes and manners collide hilariously with contemporary American language, as we take a close look at how much hasn’t changed since the days of powdered wigs and harpsichords.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

ALAN: The misanthrope of the title, Alan prides himself on his “sincerity and candor.” Unfortunately, he hasn’t learned that sometimes candor is best kept to oneself. He tells it like it is no matter what the cost – but in the highly circumscribed world of Louis XIV’s court, and in our world, too, for that matter, that honesty of his is just too much for most people to bear! (lead role)

PHIL: Alan’s good friend. Alan considers him a hypocrite because he says one thing behind people’s back and acts a different way to their face, but Alan says he is just “playing the game.” Phil is basically an honest guy, and a good friend to Alan. (large role)

RONNIE: An aspiring writer, very taken with himself and his literary aspirations. His poetry is sheer drivel, but Alan is the only one willing to tell him so. (medium role)

CELIA: A coquette and a clever gossip whom Alan is absolutely smitten with. Unlike Alan, though, she tells the truth ONLY behind people’s backs, never to their face. This exasperates him. At the end of the day, Celia turns out to be really into the whole hypocritical nature of society – she really doesn’t see anything wrong with it, and is quite unapologetic about her two-facedness. (large role)

ELLIE: Celia’s down to earth cousin. Like Alan, she doesn’t shy from the truth. But she is good at finding the positive side of things (even the bad things about people and circumstances), and doesn’t get caught up in gossip. She doesn’t judge. (medium role)

ARLETTE: Professes to be Celia’s friend, but really a jealous viper. She wraps herself in the cloth of “righteousness” to defend her actions, but she is really a gossipy old maid at heart and couldn’t catch a man if her life depended on it. Older than Celia. She is madly in love with Alan. (medium role)

MARQUIS ARTHUR: dandyish fop who is very vain and arrogant. One of Celia’s suitors (medium role)

VISCOUNT CLIFFORD: another dandyish fop, not as self-assured as Arthur. Also pursuing Celia’s heart (medium role)

BASQUE: Celia’s servant, basically shows people in (small role)

OFFICER OF THE MARSHALCY: comes to arrest Alan (small role)

DUBOIS: Alan’s servant, comically misinformed and misinforming (small role)

MOLIÈRE: The playwright himself makes a surprise appearance at the last minute. He is quite Gallic: wry, self-effacing (but only for appearance's sake), dismissive of the English, and overall quite pleased with himself. Also, has a heavy French accent. (small role)