Thon Man Molière

Why do folk not, ever, catch on to themselves?… Ach, gies you another interesting nutter to play.

Welcome to Paris at the time of Louis XIV. Come backstage and meet the Kings theatre company – a troupe of grandes dames, old hams, ingénues and, of course, their leading man, author of their dramas and cause of all their troubles... thon man Molière.

Under constant threat of debtors prison, in big bother with church and state and – worst of all – disastrously in love, Molière writes brilliant, scurrilous comedies inspired by a desperate life. But telling the truth is a dangerous business and his latest drama could be the death of him…

Liz Lochheads play Thon Man Molière was first performed at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in 2016, in a production starring Jimmy Chisholm and Siobhan Redmond.

I was so moved by this play, which surprised me, as I had expected a knockabout comedy. Dont get me wrong, it was funny. But I hadnt expected the tenderness and emotional complexity. The bond – eternal, exasperated, essential – between Molière and Madeleine is the core of the piece, but all of these characters seem every bit as human and deep and strange and needy as theatre people always are.David Greig, Artistic Director of the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh