From The Director
When I was looking at this seasons shows, I decided to throw in a different classic show other than Shakespeare, and I started to look at other writers. I centered on Moliere and the Misanthrope because of the themes of the show and how they can easily be transferred to today’s High School student.
The Misanthrope was written by Moliere and premiered in 1666, it was considered partially autobiographical. And although it’s considered Autobiographical, there is huge disagreement that he was actually using himself as a model for Alceste. In fact it’s hard for us to believe that anyone could reach Alceste’s level of misanthropic behavior. This play is different from his other comedies, which are more farcical in nature, such as Tartuffe (1664) or Those Learned Ladies. Some think that perhaps Moliere was discouraged by the 1666 banning of Tartuffe, a play many found offensive because of its assault on church hypocrisy. With this play Molière embarked on a more serious study of human relationships. He does poke fun at French aristocracy, but this satire is overshadowed by Molière's attention to those human flaws to which all are subject.
The themes of the show, Social Hypocrisy, Acceptance of Human Flaws, The Irrationality of Love, and the Rationality of Compromise are themes that I see my students deal with all the time. I’ve listed to them talk about how two-faced some people are (Hypocrisy), how they need to be accepted for who they are (Human Flaws) How they can’t live without the love of their life (Love—and Teenage life) and how they need to figure out how to make things work (compromise). So When Moliere wrote this show, I wonder if he realized how timeless the themes would be.
Enjoy the show, sit back and learn from our show. Remember we are all politically correct for a reason, and if we actually told people how we truly felt, we would have quite a few bigger issues in our lives.
Please also remember the arts are important, they keep kids in school, and allow some students to thrive where they might have struggled before. So thank you for coming to our show, go see one of the shows at the other high schools or take in a dance concert, or choir or band concert. But most of all support the local high school’s performing arts!
Glen Carpenter
