The Miser

It is said of Harpagon that »fundamentally, he cares more about money than his reputation.« The old miser has buried his fortune in the garden. At night and in secret, just so that he won’t have to share it. He in in such thrall to the despicable Mammon that beautiful banknotes have an almost erotic effect on him. By comparison, love is simply a commodity, invented to raise one’s own market value. And a cold horror grips him whenever he thinks of Élise and Cléante. His children want to be nothing like him. Marry for love? Harpagon is determined: no way! He feels surrounded by traitors. Then his beloved treasure chest disappears from the garden and suddenly the rules of family life are turned entirely upside down.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known as Molière, was the official Director of Entertainments at the court of the Sun King Louis XIV in Versailles. His theatre characters are mirrors of the youthful bourgeoisie at a time when profligacy was venerated and thrift scorned - a time that only at first sight seems distant from our own.

Bernadette Sonnenbichler, who works regularly at the D’haus in her role as Senior Resident Director, presents an exotic gallery of quirky, Baroque figures and examines a generational conflict that is now more topical than ever. This story of the most famous skinflint in world theatre can be experienced on the main stage at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus from autumn 2024.