The Misanthrope

The performance February 3, 2027 is only for young people between 15 and 30 years old at a special price.

Molière's eternal comedy travels from the court of the Sun King to our contemporary times, where God is replaced by Gucci, power goes to Hermès instead of ermine, popularity is gained by rubbing shoulders with the right influencers and giving in to love is just as difficult as it has always been.

In the play we meet Alceste, a profound and intellectual human being who despises and fights all kinds of falsehood and superficiality. So far so good. The challenge is that, at the same time, he is hopelessly in love with the underrated Célimène, who surrounds himself with all the superficial saliva lickers he cannot stomach. And when the opportunity finally arises, and Alceste finally reaches out for Célimène, he is so unhinged in his own self-absorbed rigid mind that he cannot or dare to yield to her love unless he can recreate her in his own image.

The Misanthrope is not simply a portrait of a man who has lurked the forlorn friendships and fake cheek kisses that give access to the pinnacles of power, and who hates them of a (perhaps) good heart. It is also a comedy on verse about the inscrutable paths of love. And a reminder that it can be hard to see the beam in one's own eye for the splinter in one's opponent's. Especially when it comes to the people you despise the most.

Seizing the ball from 1666, the play's house director Thomas Bendixen sets, with sharp and heartbreaking wit, Molière's self-effacing comedy of self-loathing, self-staging and the longing to be loved into our present. With him he has a strong cast of actors with Laura Skjoldborg as Célimène and music by, among others, Oh Land.

The misanthrope goes on a tour of Denmark. Read more here.

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