Talent: Simon Armstrong as Alceste and Byron Mondahl as Oronte
By Sophia Lomax
Collaboration: a word which is once again proving a driving force among Bristol theatres.
Following the hugely successful joint production of Uncle Vanya, the Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory theatre company (SATTF) and the Bristol Old Vic theatre are to harness their considerable pool of talent to produce Moliere’s The Misanthrope.
This joyful comedy of manners, combining an aching love story with take-no-prisoners satire, offers sharp commentary on 17th-century French society and this version, translated by Tony Harrison and directed by SATTF artistic director Andrew Hilton, renders the language clear and witty for a 21st century audience.
What’s the plot? The tale centres around Alceste, played by Simon Armstrong, and his passionate pursuit of Célimène, carried out while attempting to turn resolutely against the intrigues and insincerities of the society in which she thrives. And comments on the ills of society in 17th-century France seem eerily prescient when applied to urban life today.
Andrew Hilton recognises this relevance to our society: ‘The drama of the past is a great thread in our history and culture; it makes the past immediate, even contemporary with us…the plays have to speak to us now and, generally speaking, they have survived in the repertory because they do. We are finding The Misanthrope as humanly interesting as any modern play…complex, ambiguous and demanding.’
And he enthuses about bringing this particular version of Moliere to a Bristol audience: ‘It is a complete reimagining of Moliere’s play for 2010 and yet at the same time extraordinarily faithful to the original. It uses Moliere’s medium, the rhyming couplet, with a confidence, dash and flexibility that only a real poet could achieve.’
Aptly, Andrew is himself treasured among Bristol Old Vic staff, with artistic director Tom Morris describing him as: ‘a director of great skill’.
Actor Simon Armstrong, who is preparing to play the part of ‘a good man’, explains his views on the play’s increasingly despairing protagonist: ‘Alceste is a deeply principled man who finds himself pushed further and further into an entrenched position of his own making.
‘The genius of the play is to tell this potentially bleak story through sparkling wit and brilliantly imagined comic situations.’
You heard it here first. The Misanthrope is at Bristol Old Vic from Sept 30-Oct 23.
For tickets, call the Box Office on 0117 987 7877