The Misanthrope, Bury St Edmunds
FRANK CLIFF Molière's Misanthrope has the slenderest of plots; it is really a telling portrait of a hypocritical society and, as such, is timeless.
FRANK CLIFF
Molière's Misanthrope has the slenderest of plots; it is really a telling portrait of a hypocritical society and, as such, is timeless.
Colin Blumenau's production, which plays for a week before a national tour, uses the verse translation by Tony Harrison originally commissioned for the National Theatre in 1973.
While Molière satirised court society, it is a contemporary society party we witness, where the guests dress in 17th century costume, and there is no difficulty translating the hypocrisy and vice from then to the present.
You may also want to watch:
Harrison's brilliant translation brings the biting humour of the play vividly to life.
The cast was splendid, especially the fine central performances from Jonathan Keeble as Alceste and Amber Edlin as coquette Celimène. As the audience warmed to them, so they increased in stature, producing a marvellous evening's theatre.
Most Read
- 1 Roads flooded on east coast after heavy rain
- 2 Two Norfolk villages named among most beautiful to visit in England
- 3 Man put hidden camera in bedroom to spy on wife
- 4 Driver taken to hospital after four-car crash on key road into Norwich
- 5 Man in critical condition after being stabbed in Thetford
- 6 Machinery sale marks end of family's 100-year farming history
- 7 Robbers knock out boy, 14, and steal trainers from his feet
- 8 Unlikely new use for city's Samson and Hercules building
- 9 Norfolk social worker loses race discrimination case
- 10 'Pray for Paul today' - wife's plea as gallbladder op victim faces surgery
t The Misanthrope continues at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, until September 21. Box office: 01284 769505.
