The idea was beautiful and so promising: tell the life of Molière through the voice of Mikhail Bulgakov, a great Russian author of the XXe century which devoted boundless admiration to the immortal of French theatre. Only, the gap is great between the announced project and what is offered to us on the stage of the TNM.
Despite several qualities (notably in terms of the acting and the scenography), the show directed by Lorraine Pintal follows an agreed narrative framework and without much audacity, which sticks in a rather linear way to the (well-known) life of Molière. . In fact, the adaptation by Louis-Dominique Lavigne of the novel that Bulgakov devoted to Molière in 1933 reveals very little about the writer of Ukrainian origin.
You should know that, despite the 300 years that separate them, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin dit Molière and Mikhaïl Bulgakov have a lot in common, in particular an unquenchable thirst for writing and denouncing the failings of their society.
Thus, the two men had to fight all their lives against censorship. On the one hand, Bulgakov saw the majority of his works rejected or roughly reworked by the Stalinist regime. His fictionalized biography on Molière did not escape it, the censors finding him too transparent parallels with the power in place. On the other, Molière shocked the clergy with his Tartuffe to the point where his play was banned and where certain priests demanded from the king that the insolent playwright be burned at the stake.
A few pranks
However, Bulgakov’s vision, the vagaries of his existence and his astonishing admiration for a Frenchman of the 17e century are only mentioned in too few (and too short) scenes. In the role of the man of letters from Kyiv, Jean-François Casabonne finds himself haunting the stage like a ghost when it is to him that Louis-Dominique Lavigne should have offered the most beautiful replies, even if it means adding his he needed scenes of his own.
With the talent that we know him, Jean-François Casabonne could have carried on his shoulders a much more substantial show, where everyone would have left with the impression of having discovered a Ukrainian author still too little celebrated here.
In terms of good news, we should not overlook the performance of Éric Robidoux, who embodies with great energy and nuance a melancholy and dark Molière, forced to do comedy while he dreamed of epic dramas . The playwright’s death scene is particularly touching, as is that of his one true love, the actress Madeleine Béjart (luminous Rachel Graton).
PHOTO YVES RENAUD PROVIDED BY THE TNM
The imposing distribution of Novel by Monsieur de Molière delivers solid performance.
In fact, the 12 performers in the cast are very solid, even if we sometimes witness surprising breaks in tone from one scene to another. And although a certain lack of unity in the costumes can raise eyebrows (in this regard, Jean Marchand’s wig as Corneille is pure delirium!).
A word also on the enveloping music of Jorane, which serves as a sound setting for all these beautiful people. The cellist, present on stage, undoubtedly adds a touch of beauty to the whole.
In short, several ingredients had been brought together by the director Lorraine Pintal to make this show a memorable moment of theatre. It’s just a shame that the project seems to have veered off course along the way. As if the projector had moved during the creation to offer its light only to Molière.