Staged Excerpts
Molière Turns 400

17th Century Paris Meets
21st Century New York


Directed by Lucie Tiberghien
Starring Lisa Gorlitsky, Margaret Ivey, and Postell Pringle

World Premiere

Thursday, March 10–Saturday, March 12, 2022
7:30pm
Opening Night Reception on March 10
FIAF Florence Gould Hall

In English



“When things look simple, don’t believe your eyes…”

Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Molière’s birth and discover the sharp social critique hidden behind his most famous comedies in this exclusive new production!

With a selection of staged excerpts from The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, and Tartuffe, director Lucie Tiberghien and a diverse company of actors—Lisa Gorlitsky, Margaret Ivey, and Postell Pringle—remind us how unshakably pertinent these biting 17th-century satires remain today.

Translated into English verse by Pulitzer prize winner Richard Wilbur, the excerpts are woven together by an original score composed by Christophe Tiberghien and performed by him live on piano.

Revel in old memories, make new discoveries, and delight in this contemporary reinterpretation of the work of France’s most famous author!

The opening night performance on Thursday, March 10 will be followed by a reception.

Download: Digital Program

Duration: 65 minutes

ABOUT THE PLAYS

The Misanthrope
The play is a portrait of Alceste, a painfully forthright gentleman utterly intolerant of polite society’s flatteries and hypocrisies. He is hopelessly in love with the coquettish Célimène, as are several other men. Célimène, bored with social niceties, proves cruel to her many suitors; all of them leave her except Alceste, who asks her to marry him. She would consent, except that he wishes to live a simple, quiet life apart from society, while she cannot abandon the gay, frivolous, false society she loves.

The School for Wives
At its core, this biting satire about a privileged and misguided man so intimidated by women that he grooms his own ward for marriage, is about gender power dynamics.

Tartuffe
Tartuffe: a dubiously pious crook, happy to use the bible as a prop for personal gain. Orgon: a naive and lost, aging patriarch, lusting for his fleeting power. When these two forces meet, chaos ensues in the family, until lies and fallacy are exposed and extracted from the home.

CREATIVE TEAM

Set Designer: Lina Younes
Lighting Designer: Matthew Richards
Costumes Designer: Trevor Bowen
Live Music: Christophe Tiberghien
Stage Manager: Madison Lane
Assistant Stage Manager: Devon Miller

DIRECTOR

Lucie Tiberghien

Lucie Tiberghien is a French and American theater director and translator and founder of Molière in the Park.

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    • Early in her career, Lucie associate directed works at New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Washington Opera, Florentine Opera, Le Théâtre du Châtelet and worked repeatedly with acclaimed French director Jaques Lassalle, in Paris, Avignon, and Lausanne. She translated, directed and produced a production of Jean Luc Lagarce’s Juste la Fin du Monde for la Compagnie Charnière, a company she created, dedicated to building a bridge between French and American theater. She also wrote and directed The Quiet Room, a stage adaptation of Howard Buten’s classic novel “Quand j’avais cinq ans je m’ai tué”, produced by Charnière in New York at Synchronicity Space and in France at Le Théâtre de Suresnes Jean Vilar.

      Specializing in the development of new plays, Lucie then directed world premieres at Second Stage, MCC, The Cherry Lane Theater, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Rattlestick Theater Company, MaYi Theater Company, The Humana Festival, Labyrinth Theater Company, and Arena Stage. She has also directed revivals at The George Street Playhouse, Kansas City Rep, Milwaukee Rep, Juilliard, and New York University. In the fall of 2018, she founded Molière in the Park to act on her desire to democratize access to theater. Molière in the Park is the only company in Brooklyn solely dedicated to bringing FREE outdoor productions of Molière’s unifying and impactful plays to Prospect Park, annually.

      In 2021, Lucie was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et de Lettres by the French Government.

CAST

Lisa Gorlitsky

Lisa began her professional career at the age of seven, and has been seen in numerous primetime and daytime television series, movies made for television, feature films and national advertising campaigns, as well as various theater productions.

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    • Lisa has starred in plays at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Atlantic Theater, Molière in the Park, and “Stars in the House”. In addition to her acting credits, Lisa is a professional fitness and shoe model, working with many fashion houses in New York City, and also devotes much of her time to organizing and fundraising for community and educational efforts. Lisa earned her BFA in Acting at SUNY Purchase.

Margaret Ivey

Margaret Ivey’s Off-Broadway productions include Measure for Measure (Epic Theatre Ensemble), Season 10 of The Fire This Time Festival, and workshops at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Ma-Yi Theatre Company.

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    • A selection of regional productions includes Perdita in The Winter’s Tale (Alley Theatre), Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre (Cincinnati Playhouse and Milwaukee Rep), Zoe in The Niceties (Contemporary American Theatre Festival), and Ruby in pen/man/ship (Contemporary American Theatre Festival). TV/Film: “The Blacklist,” “Different Flowers,” “Madam Secretary,” and “Prodigal Son.” Margaret received her training at the University of Southern California, the British American Drama Academy, and the American Theatre Wing’s SpringboardNYC Program. She empowers student artists as an actor/director with Theatre For A New Audience’s New Voices Project and as a teaching artist with Epic Theatre Ensemble. In addition, she has shared her love of French language and culture with high school students as a group leader to France with the Experiment in International Living.

Postell Pringle

Postell Pringle [aka POS] is an award-winning veteran of the stage, the lens, the pen & page and the microphone.

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    • An acclaimed performance artist, Pos takes a multi-disciplined approach to art. Based solely on an urge to fuse a love of stagecraft, visual and oral storytelling, folklore and hip hop music. Pos is dedicated to creating new works by breathing life into an old cannon. He’s an actor, performer, rapper, music producer, playwright and occasional director and choreographer. As a member of Q Brothers Collective he wrote and co-created Q Brothers Christmas CarolLong Way Home (for Chicago Children’s Choir) and ms. estrada (The Flea), amongst other stage musicals, like STEP KIDS (co-created w/ Tyrone L. Robinson). On Broadway he has performed in A Free Man of Color (Lincoln Center Theater). His Off-Broadway work includes Othello: The Remix (Westside Theater); The Urban Retreat (Public Theater); The Seven (NY Theater Workshop / La Jolla Playhouse); Song for New York (Mabou Mines); Exposure (Eugene O’Neill). He has collaborated with Molière in the Park for The Misanthrope [Online] and pen/man/ship [Online]. Regionally, Pos has performed in The Matchmaker (Goodman); Long Way Home (Chicago Children’s Choir); OUR DAUGHTERS, LIKE PILLARS (Huntington); Broke-ology (KC Rep); King Hedley II (American Stage). His film and TV credits include 30 Miles from Nowhere; Rescue Me (FX); L&O franchise (NBC). His latest full-length LP, Hot Sauce from Hell, is available everywhere, including SpotifyHe’s a founding member of the band, The Rap Pack and co-created the live stream music/interview broadcast and podcast Tuesday Night Live with The Rap Pack. He hails from Decatur, GA. He resides in ‘do or die’ Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn NY.