Le Misanthrope

Pushed to the limit by Alceste's radical willingness to renounce all forms of worldliness, the characters reveal, for the space of a day, the contradictions of the human race, subject to a heart that reason knows nothing about. They make up a social microcosm that takes place not in the hushed atmosphere of a salon, but in an open space, the landing of a private mansion in the process of being moved in. The set is a place in motion, a metaphor for what the director believes the repertoire should be: "evolving, completely in its own century, but nourished by previous centuries and already looking to the century to come". "I belong to a repertory theater," says Clément Hervieu-Léger, "and I tell myself that if we don't take a fresh look at the works, then this repertory theater no longer has a place. Created in 2014, with 176 performances to the date of this revival, the show is one of those timeless ones that cross the years with an acuity that age cannot alter.