Miseryguts

The Misanthrope is widely held to be Molière’s finest work. No small praise for the author of Le Malade imaginaire and Tartuffe. Perhaps the reason lies as John Wood asserts in The Misanthrope and Other Plays that it’s a “very deliberate comic masterpiece” but one that “pushes the boundaries so far that it slips into the realm of tragedy.” Or perhaps it’s simply because his protagonist is so damn timeless and recognizable.

A ‘Miseryguts’ for whom all the world’s inhabitants are sycophantic, ingratiating, social climbing idiots incapable of telling each other the truth.

A man who’s happier to damage himself, even ostracise himself from society, rather than compromise his integrity. Molière’s great comedies have always translated very well into Scots and this one is no exception. Scotland’s Makar Liz Lochhead, whose adaptation of Tartuffe has enjoyed legendary status for nearly two decades, once again blazes a particularly Scottish, thoroughly modern trail through one of the great man’s angst ridden, painfully honest and truly funny masterpieces.