Cast
Alka Balbir Angélique
Armel Cazedepats Clitandre
Michel Fau George Dandin
Philippe Girard Monsieur de Sotenville
Florent Hu Lubin
Anne-Guersande Ledoux Madame de Sotenville
Nathalie Savary Claudine
Ensemble Marguerite Louise
Gaétan Jarry Conductor
Michel Fau Director
Christian Lacroix Costumes
Emmanuel Charles Set Design
Joël Fabing Lighting
Véronique Soulier Nguyen, with the collaboration of Maison Messaï Makeup, Wigs, and Hair
Damien Lefèvre Assistant Director
Jean-Philippe Pons Assistant Costume Designer
Barthélémy Fortier and Sacha Vilmar Assistant Directors-in-training
Presentation
On July 18, 1668, Molière and the King’s Troupe successfully performed George Dandin or the Husband Deceived, a comedy mixed with a pastoral sung interlude, as part of the “Grand Royal Entertainment of Versailles” offered by Louis XIV to his court to celebrate the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle concluded with Spain.
This biting story of a rich and obnoxious peasant who buys a young noble girl is intertwined with elegant interludes where shepherds exchange flirtatious remarks set to splendid music by Lully. In this work, Molière humorously tells us that marriage is a transaction in which love has no part – since Dandin, by marrying Angélique de Sotenville, exchanged his fortune for a title – and yet the groom insists on claiming his wife’s love and fidelity.
Show moreAlthough the play remains immoral because evil triumphs, it primarily conveys that everything can be bought except love… and this is where it remains timeless. To amplify this story, which is both painful, burlesque, and obsessive, Michel Fau has chosen to embrace a baroque and nightmarish aesthetic… with the collaboration of Gaétan Jarry and the musicians of his Ensemble Marguerite Louise.
Production
C.I.C.T. – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
Co-production: Opéra Royal / Château de Versailles Spectacles, Théâtre de Suresnes – Jean Vilar, Théâtre de Caen, Atelier Théâtre Jean Vilar – Louvain-la-Neuve, Festival de Sablé – L’Entracte, Scène Conventionnée, Théâtre Impérial – Opéra de Compiègne
Action financed by the Île-de-France Region
With the artistic participation of the Jeune Théâtre National
Thanks to the Opéra National de Paris – Direction Alexander Neef, Opéra National de Bordeaux
Programme
A comic opera in three acts created in Versailles for the Grand Royal Entertainment held by Louis XIV in 1668.