Experience Molière's most thrilling and provocative masterpiece
Graphic by Katya Kirillova
Don Juan has abandoned Elvira, whom he seduced into breaking her vows and marrying him. Over the course of a single adventure-filled day, he and his loyal sidekick, Sganarelle, encounter many of the people Don Juan has betrayed.
As he seduces women, defies social conventions, mocks religion, and revels in provocation, his appetite for transgression seems impossible to satisfy. Yet the signs are unmistakable: the walls are closing in.
Will he truly repent? Or will he just pretend to, like so many around him, and continue down the same path to the bitter end?
Translated by Stephen Wadsworth and directed by Drama Desk nominee Lucie Tiberghien, DON JUAN is one of Molière’s most thrilling and provocative plays. A feverish descent from seduction to reckoning, the play blends comedy, tragedy, and the supernatural, pushing Molière’s exploration of hypocrisy and morality further than any of his other works.
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In MIP's staging, three actors (Kaliswa Brewster, Kalyne Coleman, Daniel Pearce) transform before our eyes into more than ten characters, while Don Juan (Keshav Moodliar) and his faithful sidekick Sganarelle (Alana Raquel Bowers) remain the only fixed figures in a world that constantly shifts around them. The result is a fast-paced theatrical spectacle where identities blur, loyalties shift, and the unexpected lurks at every corner.
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The production will once again feature original cello music by Drama Desk nominated composer Johnathan Moore.
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“Don Juan feels especially urgent right now; Molière presents us with a myriad of characters, both farcical and tragic, heroic and deeply flawed, charming and repulsive, while never taking sides. Instead, he holds a mirror up to each and every one of us, inviting us to examine who we are and where we stand in the face of hypocrisy, accountability, and power,” said director Lucie Tiberghien.
Cast
Kalyne Coleman
Kalyne Coleman is from Richmond, Virginia and is a Brown/Trinity Rep MFA in Acting Program grad and University of Pennsylvania alum. TV Credits include: Grace, Interview With A Vampire (AMC), So Help Me Todd (CBS), Evil(CBS), and most recently, Chicago Med (NBC). Off-Broadway credits include Four, What To Send Up When It Goes Down (BAM), Lorraine Hansberry & Nikki Giovanni, Lessons in Survival (Vineyard Theater); and Leigh, America v. 2.1…(Barrington Stage). Kalyne made her Broadway debut in Jaja’s African Hair Braiding written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White.
Ensemble
Kaliswa Brewster
Kaliswa Brewster is a first-generation Liberian-American actress, producer, and educator based in New York. On television, she has recurred on Billions, Time After Time, and Release, with additional credits including Law & Order, Blue Bloods, God Friended Me, Daredevil, and more. Film credits include Paterno (HBO Films), starring Al Pacino. On stage, she has performed with Hartford Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Guthrie Theater, Signature Theatre, and more. As a voice actor, she works across commercials, television, film, and audiobooks.
Ensemble
Alana Raquel Bowers
Alana Raquel Bowers is an actor, dancer, and producer born, raised and educated in Baltimore, MD. Broadway: CHICKEN AND BISCUITS (Circle in the Square Theater). Off-Broadway: THE LOVED ONES (Irish Repertory Theatre), COLD WAR CHOIR PRACTICE (MCC Theater, Clubbed Thumb, Page 73), THE MISER (Moliere in the Park), BERNARDA’S DAUGHTERS (The New Group/NBT at Signature Theater), WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN (The Movement Theatre Company at A.R.T./New York Theater, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, American Repertory Theater, the Public Theater, BAM).
Sganarelle
Keshav Moodliar
Keshav Moodliar is a Brooklyn-based actor, born in Pune and raised between Bombay and New Delhi. Recent credits include - Prince F*ggot (Studio Seaview), Henry 6 (The Old Globe), The Odyssey (A.R.T Boston) The Scarlet Letter (Two River Theatre), Queen (Long Wharf and NAATCO), Arms and the Man (Gingold Theatre) Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Theatre New Jersey), Measure for Measure(The Acting Company) . Film/TV: Extrapolations (Apple), “SINK SANK SUNK” (mini-series), In Defense of Civil Society (Independent), “Untitled Paul Simms Pilot” (FX). MFA: Juilliard.
Don Juan
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Daniel Pearce
MIP: The Miser. Broadway: Othello, Machinal, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Off-Broadway credits include 12 productions with the Public Theater most recently Hamlet in Central Park. Also: Timon of Athens (TFANA), The Most Deserving (Women's Project), Falling (Minetta Lane), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Irish Rep). Film and TV credits include: The Last Thing Mary Saw, Salt, Invisible Sign, Godzilla, "The Good Fight", "Bull", "Murder of a President", "Law & Order" (and all variants)), "Chappelle's Show", “Queen's Supreme", and upcoming “Will Trent”.
Ensemble
Creative / Production
Stephen Wadsworth
Stephen Wadsworth's translations and productions of plays by Marivaux introduced the playwright to American theater audiences in the 1990s. For his work on Marivaux and Molière, he was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France.
Translator
Lucie Tiberghien
A Brooklynite since 2001, Lucie has spent 15 years developing and directing new plays in New York City and all over the country. As a translator and adapter, Lucie’s work has been produced in Paris and in New York. Bringing free theater and the works of Molière to Brooklyn was a long time dream which she is thrilled has become a reality. In 2021, she was awarded the prestigious designation of chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.
Director
Molière
Molière is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world literature of 17th century. At MIP, we believe that Molière’s iconic plays capture modern day Brooklyn: funny, gritty, progressive, disruptive, and embracing of all types of people. Through the lens of his stories, we see ourselves and others as imperfect and intertwined humans.
Playwright
Johnathan Moore
Johnathan Moore, a highly innovative cellist from New Haven, CT, has an unconventional approach to music. Johnathan achieved 1st Place in the Yale School of Music Solo Competition with his original composition. This recognition enabled Johnathan to collaborate with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra as a soloist, performing at Arts & Ideas Festival in New Haven, CT. Johnathan Moore has demonstrated his unorthodox style on the cello at various institutions, including the Guggenheim Museum, Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, FSU Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, & Molière in the Park.
Composer & Cellist
Line Producer — Molly FitzMaurice
Set Design — New Wilderness
Lighting Design — Derek Van Heel
Costume Design — Ari Fulton
Sound Design — Chad Raines
Graphic Design — Katya Kirillova (kty4rt)
Produced by Molière in the Park, in partnership with Domino Park and Prospect Park Alliance.
We thank all our major supporters!
THIS PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED, IN PART, BY PUBLIC FUNDS FROM THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY COUNCIL.​ This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
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The Auchincloss Foundation, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., The Achelis and Bodman Foundation, The Thompson Family Foundation, The Evelyn Sharp Foundation, The Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The American Society of The French Legion of Honor, The Richenthal Foundation, The Double R Foundation, Jon and Elizabeth Weiswasser, Samira Wiley, Daniel Klingenstein, Paul and Alicia Brill, Veronica Bulgari and Stephan Haimo, Danai Gurira, Mary Vines, Anne Sophie de Villeroy, Bill and Judy Steul, RBC Wealth Management.
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We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Unions: ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS, AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS, SAG-AFTRA through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear on this program.