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BUTORDE! PENDARD! MARAUD! FRIPON! OISON BRIDÉ! BOUVIÈRE! CAROGNE! IMPERTINENT FIEFFÉ!
Since the mirror Molière has held up to us for 400 years remains undimmed, and since his analyses of the human phenomenon are unfortunately still just as accurate today, we are revisiting the work of this grand master. After The Misanthrope (1998), Poquelin (2003), and Poquelin II (2017), we will be presenting 1, 2, 3 Poquelin starting in June 2026. For this, we have reworked Poquelin I and II. We will perform revised versions of elements from both productions with a partially new ensemble, and, while we’re at it, we’ll also add some new texts.
In this irresponsibly long and boisterous ode to the theatre, you’ll see: Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), in which a hypochondriac with all the typical Molière traits makes life impossible for himself and those around him; Le Médecin malgré lui (The Doctor In Spite of Himself), a rollicking pile of nonsense with a series of jokes, both correct and incorrect; L’Avare (The Miser), in which a greedy brute shows us the benefits of unbridled possessiveness; Le Mariage Forcé (The Forced Marriage), another farce in which an old bachelor is disemboweled; the ‘posthumously published’ Les Égotistes (The Egotists), in which our boastful selves are undermined; and a few other things… Paternalism, stupidity, infidelity, violence, suspicion, and egotism are guaranteed. In short, exceptionally 2026…
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In French
by and with Robby Cleiren, Jolente De Keersmaeker, Damiaan De Schrijver, Els Dottermans, Tine Embrechts, Bert Haelvoet, Willy Thomas & Stijn Van Opstal
texts Molière
light Luc Schaltin & Thomas Walgrave
sound Alexandre Fostier
costumes Inge Büscher & An d’Huys
external eye Frank Vercruyssen
production tg STAN
coproduction Les Nuits de Fourvière Lyon, Le Quartz Scène Nationale Brest, Le Manège Maubeuge
with the support of Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government through Cronos Invest
tg STAN is subsidized by The Flemish Community
“The brilliant tg STAN deceives us. They do not strip the work of meaning, they do not delete anything that has not survived the test of time. They do not anchor themselves in the past. The text is enlarged, reinvented. Thanks to their inventiveness, stage sense, and interaction with the audience, they meticulously construct a three-hour, jubilant piece of theatre.”
David Rofé-Sarfati, Toute La Culture, 10/12/2022
“Poquelin II is vintage Molière, taking us straight to the heart of seventeenth-century theatre. And yet, it never proves to be a historical reconstruction, thanks to this actor-led theatre that hinges on direct contact with the audience, without set design, flashy illusion, or ingenious manipulation. Nothing in the hands, nothing in the pockets: each actor relies solely on themselves and their colleagues to make the theatre emerge. These seven actors do so with brio: together they play fifteen roles and prove that a repertoire piece doesn’t need resuscitation, that an old text isn’t necessarily a living corpse, but can be as vibrant and rich as life itself.”
Het Theaterfestival, 31/05/2018