Starring
Maechi Aharanwa, Janie Brookshire, Chris Henry Coffey, Gabriel Ebert, Danaya Esperanza, Margaret Ivey, Nate Miller, Kate Siahaan Rigg, Aline Salloum.
The Team
Director: Lucie Tiberghien
Producer: Garth Belcon
Set Design: Teresa Williams
Lighting Design: Stoli Stolnack
Sound Design: Chad Raines
Costume Design: Dina El-Aziz
Production Stage Manager: Madison Lane
Assistant Stage Manager: Cara McErlean
Production Manager: T Pope Jackson
Social Media: Media a la Carte
Press: DARR Publicity
Graphic Designer: Liane Fredel
Presented in Partnership with LeFrak Center at Lakeside and Prospect Park Alliance
The Story
Alceste is full of rightful disdain for the hypocrisy and social norms of his contemporaries. Ironically, he is madly in love with the queen of social butterflies, Célimène, a radiant seductress who deftly navigates the incessant chatter of her friend network in her endless quest for independence.
When Alceste suddenly decides that Célimène MUST choose between him and her frivolous world, well, in true Molière comedic style, the clash and its aftermaths are like nothing he could have predicted.
Please be advised Molière in the Park is following all NYC COVID mandates for outdoor events.
What is THE MISANTHROPE?
What is The Misanthrope? Is it a play about a commendable, honest man, Alceste, who heroically sacrifices everything to denounce the lies of his peers and loved ones? Or is it about a reprehensible extremist, a madman, who would rather destroy everything in his path and abandon everyone, including the woman he loves, rather than compromise even just a little?
Molière never tells us where he stands, and therein lies the beauty and humor of this rich and opaque portrait of eight aristocrats in 1666. Except that in our diverse production, 400 years after Molière was born, the time is now. These characters’ personal relationship to the truth, freedom, gender, race and ultimately love, will be experienced through today’s lens. And since theater IS after all, first and foremost an opportunity for communal reflection, complex and essential questions will be raised.
No matter what side of the great divide we are on, how do we love or simply exercise our freedoms, in the face of such unfathomable hypocrisy and, most importantly, the weight of this country's history?