Moliere on Stage, Goldsby Robert W

What happens when the dramatic art of Moliere is unleashed onto the stage and explodes into new life? Moliere on Stage takes the reader onstage, backstage and into the audience of Molieres plays, analyzing the performance of his works in both his own time and ours. Written by a professional stage director with over fifty years of experience directing and translating Moliere, this original, in-depth study allows the reader to see how the playwrights lines have been brought to new life on stage throughout the centuries.

The text explores how Moliere strove to create a communal experience of shared laughter that fulfilled the universal need for union, and focuses on four key topics: the elements of Molieres early life that are evidenced in his later theater works; his great central plays that focus on love and lust; his comedic genius and his passion for the theater; and the final words and performances of his vivid and exceptional life. Inspired by the actions of the great French masters, the text pays homage to the interpretations of Moliere offered by the playwright himself, Louis Jouvet, Jacques Copeau and Jean-Louis Barrault, as well as those staged by American actors and directors such as Ron Leibman, Stephen Epp, Steven Wadsworth, Robert Falls and the author.