Molière Skopuh (The Miser)
L'Avare, 1668
Comedy

 

Translated by Aleš Berger
Directed by Boris Kobal

 

Opening in April 2010

 

 

Harpagon is a sixty-year old miser who is so tight fisted that his cook and his coachman are one person, his horses are starving in the stables, and he is even contemplating whether he would benefit form his children's deaths. He could, for example get his hands on the heritage they had received after their late mother. From sunrise to sunset his thoughts are set on accumulating, saving and keeping as much money as possible. Well, nearly all his thoughts. One of them is namely dedicated to poor Mariane he would like to marry. However, things get complicated, for his son fancies the beautiful Mariane as well. And then there is his daughter's wedding, where things don't go as planned, and he is constantly worried about the wretched money. All of the above is a source of numerous comical situations and dialogues. Finally it is Harpagon's stingy nature that helps bring the events to a happy ending.

 

While writing this witty and sometimes eerie comedy, Molière was influenced by Plautus's Aulularia (The Pot of Gold) and the character of Pantalone from Italian commedia dell'arte. The Miser is written in prose, and this is probably why it wasn't well accepted in Molière's time, at that time the audience was more accustomed to plays in verse. This comedy and Tartuffe are now two of Molière's works that are put on stage most often.