Photos from the evening, which was a great success: the Renaissance Hall was packed, the play was wonderfully performed, and the audience was captivated!
Sicky Darbion and Isabelle Ducatillon present Françoise Thyrion and the play “Molière by Herself” Saturday, May 3, 2014 -
**Play: “Molière in Her Own Words”**
Appointment:
5:30 p.m. at Bourgon Castle in Montourtier - 3 knocks 6:00 p.m. A friendly, potluck-style buffet around 7:00 p.m.: please let us know what you’re bringing!
**Donations are welcome. Suggested minimum contribution: 15€. Organized by Sicky Darbion as part of the “Evenings with Artists” series, with Alain and Isabelle Ducatillon assisting with the organization at the Château de Bourgon.
Molière by Herself - F. Thyrion **“Molière by Herself” is a one-person play—featuring Molière—written and performed by Françoise Thyrion. The play has been translated into several languages and performed in many countries, including China.It recounts Molière’s life through the words of a zany lecturer who suffers from severe personality disorders… to the point of becoming Molière!
It’s rich, funny, and a real showcase of acting talent. The play will be in Paris starting May 13…**
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MOLIÈRE, BY HERSELF 2013 – ALREADY TWENTY-SIX YEARS! Molière’s plays are haunted, just as certain houses can be—those where stories are written. Molière’s ghost is present in all his plays; Jean-Baptiste slips into and takes on the roles of many of his heroes (Sganarelle, Arnolphe, Alceste, Harpagon, Dom Juan Sganarelle…), he wrote them to fit himself and often performed them.
The characters are dual in nature and mirror or contrast one another (Philinte/Alceste, Dom Juan/Sganarelle, Armande/Henriette, Célimène/Arsinoé…). In reality, these pairs of characters are one and the same.
Perhaps that is why some people claim that Molière did not write his plays, since Molière’s entire body of work is Molière. As for the end of “Molière, par elle-même,” when the actress says to the audience, “That’s why Molière is me.”
“We’ve come full circle!” She stops being the narrator and becomes simply Molière. The script demands it. Molière is finally alone on stage, and the audience believes it without a second thought.
When I was playing the role, I wasn’t aware of it (and thank goodness for that!), but as I directed other actresses, it became completely, innocently, and playfully obvious to me. The script leads us to this realization: the character of Jean-Baptiste takes precedence over that of the lecturer.
Just as in Molière’s plays, where Poquelin’s spirit wanders and slips into the skin of all the characters, speaking to audiences of yesterday and today. And I’ve come to believe that you can’t perform a Molière play without him haunting us, without him scolding us, without him wanting to take our place on stage!
Oh, that awful ham, who even in death wants to make people laugh, cry, and applaud him at any cost! Excerpt from the INTERVIEW between Françoise Thyrion and Dominique Paquet: Molière, Our Contemporary… (éd. de petit véhicule)
Since its creation in 1987—that is, for the past 26 years—*Molière* has been performed in several countries and on several continents, brought to the stage by about ten actresses from France, Catalonia, the United States, Turkey, Mexico, and elsewhere…
I’ve had the immense pleasure of seeing several versions of this play, and I’ve come to realize that Molière is an “international star.” I’m now well past the age Molière was when he died… And I’m taking on the role once again.
I remain convinced that the play is still relevant today and that life in French theater still bears some resemblance to that of acting families during the “Great Century” of Louis XIV… My perspective on the laughter and tears of this towering figure of French theater hasn’t aged a bit and reinforces my belief that his theater remains, even today, important, necessary, and enchanting.
MOLIÈRE, AS TOLD BY HERSELF: A HISTORY OF THE PRODUCTION *Molière, as told by herself* was created by Françoise Thyrion in December 1987 at Théâtre 71 in Malakoff, in the Paris region. This production was restaged by the Nantes-based theater company Science 89 at the Théâtre du Ranelagh in Paris, and later revived at the Théâtre des Carmes and the Grenier à Sel in Avignon.
Produced by the AFAA, the show went on an international tour (China, South Korea, Mali, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, Barcelona, Erfurt, Spain, Portugal…). Also performed in various cities across France, the show has far exceeded two thousand performances.
Translated into Spanish, Catalan, Turkish, and Hebrew, it has been staged in Barcelona, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, and Mexico City. In 2003, the play received the Youth Theater Award in Mexico City.
It has also been performed by the Compagnie de l’Ortie Blanche in Arras, by the Compagnie des Sept Lieues in Nantes, by Any Mandieta in Toulouse, Montpellier, and Sète, by the Compagnie du Fil in Brussels, etc… and was recently revived by Céline Grolleau in a production directed by the author (a production by Cie Science 89 / la Salle Vasse). MOLIERE, PAR ELLE-MÊME, already 26 years old!
Written and Performed by Françoise Thyrion; Directed by Michel Valmer; Costumes by Marion Fau
Special Effects by Samuel Danilo
BIOGRAPHY OF FRANÇOISE THYRION
Playwright, Actress, Member of the SACD since 1989, Member of the EAT Board of Directors, Artistic Director—alongside Michel Valmer—of the Salle Municipale Francine Vasse since 2004 and of the Science 89 Theater Company since 1988.
Françoise Thyrion has worked as an actress with Pierre Debauche, Armand Gatti, Benno Besson, Pierre Ascaride, Maurice Sarrazin, Richard Demarcy, Jean-Louis Benoît, Jacques Nichet, Hélène Vincent, Jacques Livchine, Stephen Meldegg, Jacques Echantillon, Gildas Bourdet, Alain Milianti, Michel Valmer, Dominique Lurcel, Monique Hervouët…
Plays and theatrical adaptations staged by Une Folie Electrique—based on “Mystification” by Denis Diderot; Molière, by Herself; A Philosopher’s Conversation with the Maréchale de *** - based on Denis Diderot’s *Félicité, or the Marvelous Theater of the Doctor of Groningen*—with Daniel Raichvarg and Michel Valmer *Pauline Has Disappeared* *A Cleaning Lady, or Everyday Racism* *The Ingenuous One* - theatrical and musical adaptation of Voltaire in collaboration with Gerhardt Stenger The Sacrificed Children Our Carmen – a free theatrical and musical adaptation of Prosper Mérimée’s short story Ida Told Me, or The Song of Three Wounded Birds