In Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, Molière sketches the portrait of a spirit-driven adventurer whose only desire is to escape his status as a commoner and step into territories from which he is excluded… the discovery of a terra incognita that, by his very birth, is forbidden to him. Why mock Monsieur Jourdain? The bourgeois simply seeks to discover what we today call “culture,” and he embarks on the grand project of living his dreams. And what does it matter if those dreams belong to a ridiculous man? By choosing to return the play to its original form as a comedy-ballet set to music by Lully, Denis Podalydès brings together all the arts. With this theater celebration costumed by Christian Lacroix, he aims for that apotheosis of the senses longed for by his hero, played by Pascal Rénéric. It is, of course, about laughing at the comedy. But how can we not feel tenderness for this man without qualities who attempts to initiate the first cultural revolution on his own? Raised after a thousand comic mishaps to the rank of “Mamamouchi,” Monsieur Jourdain lives his moment of glory in music and dance, sickened by his bourgeoisie, an imaginary gentleman, both fulfilled and defeated, deceived and triumphant, in that rare theatrical moment where the ridiculous gives way to pure wonder.

Comedy-ballet in five acts, created at the Château de Chambord in 1670.