Le Malade Imaginaire
The Joys of Hypochondria
It certainly makes a good story: Molière, playing the role of Argan the hypochondriac in his play Le Malade Imaginaire, is said to have died onstage in the middle of the fourth performance on February 17, 1673. The reality is … Read More
DAU
Soviet Time Warp in the Heart of Paris
Although I had read plenty of articles about it before I went, I was still mystified and had no idea what to expect from DAU (pronounced da-o), the sprawling immersive-theater/film/installation project of Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky, which is being held in … Read More
Le Penseur
Thinking Out Loud: Rodin Revealed
In “Le Penseur,” a one-man show focusing on the character and work of sculptor Auguste Rodin, we can see a clear parallel between Rodin’s passion for creating art and author, director and actor Jean-Baptiste Seckler’s passion for this play, now … Read More
West Side Story
Finger-Snappin' Good
The French have belatedly fallen in love with a foreigner: the American musical. Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet has been specializing in the genre (although that may change under its new directors, Ruth Mackenzie and Thomas Lorio Di Prevot), and the brand … Read More
La Logique des Femmes
Good Samaritan vs. Inebriated Power Woman
Lola, a modern, independent woman, arrives home after having had a bit too much to drink, carried on the back of none other than a monk, in playwright Antoine Beauville’s “La Logique des Femmes.” Throughout the three scenes that follow, … Read More
Tartuffe or the Hypocrite
Blasphemous Molière Play Reconstructed
Molière’s comedy Tartuffe is probably the most famous – and infamous – play in the French repertoire. First staged as a three-act piece at Versailles in 1664 in front of Louis XIV, with the title Tartuffe or the Hypocrite, its … Read More
Paris Fringe
In English, on the Edge
Paris’s English-speaking community has always been infected with the theater bug. Today, companies like Cinémorphe, the International Players, The Improfessionals and Dear Conjunction regularly present new productions in their native language. Now they have been joined by a new festival, … Read More
Cold Water
Irish Huit Clos
What happens when a resented ex-lover turns up at a reunion of three old friends in a country house in Ireland and a kindly neighbor is unexpectedly thrown into the mix? In Christophe Garros’s new play, Cold Water, it turns … Read More
192016: Unto the Valley of the Black Pig
Brothers in Arms: For Country or King?
Two epic events in world history occurred in Europe one century ago: the Easter Rising in Dublin and the Battle of the Somme. On May 5, 6 and 7, Cinémorphe, Paris’s first immersive theater company, will present “192016: Unto the … Read More
Bajazet
Murder and Intrigue In the Sultan's Court
Racine’s play Bajazet, first performed in 1642, differs from the 10 other tragedies he wrote in one major respect. Whereas all the other plays are set in a distant timeframe – in ancient Greece or Rome, or in ancient biblical … Read More