The Misanthrope
David Sheward
January 23, 2011: Because it is a satire on the shallow values of the court of Louis XIV, Molière's "The Misanthrope" is frequently presented with a maximum of style and a minimum of substance. Fortunately, director Joseph Hanreddy emphasizes the human relationships at the core of this classic comedy in his small-scale but effective production for the Pearl Theatre Company. The key connection is between Alceste, a brutally frank critic of the hypocritical fashions of the age, and Célimène, his polar opposite, a recent widow besotted with the glittering, gossipy world of Paris high society. Yet the two are in love, and their push-pull courtship crystallizes the conflict of the piece: Alceste's ultrahigh standards for human conduct versus Célimène's unrepentant enjoyment of trivial pleasures.
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