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Directing Molière's the Learned Ladies

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Directing Molière's the Learned Ladies “Pseudo-wits and polished frauds”: Directing Molière’s The Learned Ladies by Patrick Gauthier B.A. (Hon), University of Ottawa, 2006 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Theatre and Film) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2008 © Patrick Gauthier, 2008 ABSTRACT “Pseudo-wits and polished frauds”: Directing Molière’s The Learned Ladies examines the preparation, pre-production, and rehearsal process behind The Learned Ladies , staged at the University of British Columbia’s Frederic Wood Theatre from February 7-16, 2008. As detailed in the following paper, my objective was to examine the text through the lens of the commedia dell’arte and its influence on the playwright’s characters and dramaturgy, as well as Molière’s feminism. In the rehearsal hall, my focus was on actor creation and “play.” Chapter 1 summarizes my pre-production research, and includes biographical information on both the playwright and translator, as well as the above noted commedia and early feminist influences, while Chapter 2 provides a detailed directorial analysis of Molière’s text. A journal – chronicling the entire production process from early design meetings through rehearsals and the run of the show – makes up Chapter 3. Finally, Chapter 4 is a short reflection on the process, outlining major shifts in my thinking and technique, and concluding with my final thoughts on the production. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract......................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents......................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................... vi Dedication ................................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 Research.............................................................................................................. 2 1.1 Biography......................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Richard Wilbur................................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Influence of the Commedia Dell’arte ............................................................................ 11 1.4 Molière’s Characters...................................................................................................... 16 1.5 Les Précieuses ............................................................................................................... 20 1.6 Molière’s Feminism ....................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2 Analysis and Pre-Production ............................................................................ 28 2.1 Part One: Directorial Analysis....................................................................................... 28 2.2 Part Two: Given Circumstances Analysis ..................................................................... 42 2.2.1 Given Circumstances ............................................................................................ 42 2.2.2 Language & Dialogue ........................................................................................... 45 2.2.3 Characters.............................................................................................................. 46 2.2.4 Other Questions..................................................................................................... 54 2.3 Part Three: Questions Analysis...................................................................................... 55 2.4 Part Four: Glossary ........................................................................................................ 73 2.4.1 Character Names and their Origins/Meanings ...................................................... 80 2.5 Part Five: Action Analysis (Ball Graph)........................................................................ 81 2.6 Part Six: Character/Scene Breakdown & Lengths........................................................ 82 CHAPTER 3 Production Journal............................................................................................ 84 CHAPTER 4 Reflection........................................................................................................ 122 Bibliography.............................................................................................................................. 125 Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 128 Appendix A: Production Credits......................................................................................... 128 Appendix B: Director’s Notes............................................................................................. 132 iii Appendix C: Preliminary Set sketch................................................................................... 135 Appendix D: Preliminary Costume sketches...................................................................... 136 Appendix E: Production Photos.......................................................................................... 147 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Scene Lengths in Pages in The Learned Ladies ......................................................... 83 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Un gros merci to the entire cast and crew, without whom (quite literally) this thesis would not have been possible. An extra big thank-you Carmen, Stephania, Maura, Aslam, Courtney, Maryanne, and Michelle, who went so far beyond the call of duty as to be almost unbelievable (but it’s true. I was there). A thousand thank-yous to Professors Malloy, Holzschuh, Cooper, and Bertoia, who, though not directly involved in the production, had an impact on its outcome. And, a thousand and one thank-yous to Professor Stephen Heatley. For everything. vi For my parents. Thank you. And for Suzanne, who, when I told her I was directing a Molière for my thesis, replied: “cool.” vii “If the business of comedy is to correct the vices of men by entertaining them, I don’t see why there should be any exceptions.” – Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière) “Molière really pumps my nads.” – Bender (Judd Nelson), The Breakfast Club 1 CHAPTER ONE – Research “Despite two hundred and fifty years of criticism,” writes W. G. Moore, “we are still forced to stand in uncomprehending bewilderment before [Molière’s] work.” 1 Indeed, despite volumes dedicated to his life and work and productions mounted annually across the continent and overseas, directors, actors, critics, and scholars are continually questioning the playwright’s motives and intentions, with the ideological content of his plays front and centre in any debate. Patronized by Louis XIV but also a subversive, accused of immorality and moralizing, championed by the left for his progressive secularism and by the right for his staunch defense of monarchical tradition, Jean- Baptiste Poquelin created contemporary, relevant theatre for “a public endlessly fascinated with its own image” who both adored his plays for their timeliness and detested them when the target (often) hit too close to home. 2 As political as he was satiric, throughout his career Molière “fought for control of the political apparatus that was the theatre” 3; as it gained more power and became increasingly pervasive he found himself in the centre of controversies surrounding censorship, moral outrage, and the Catholic church, never retreating from his objective of holding a public mirror to society: “one wants these portraits to be lifelike,” he is purported to have said. “And you haven’t accomplished a thing if you don’t make the 1 W.G. Moore, Molière: A New Criticism (London: Oxford University Press, 1949), p. 27. 2 Larry F. Norman, “Molière as satirist,” in The Cambridge Companion to Molière , eds. David Bradby and Andrew Calder (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 58. 3 Larry W. Riggs, Molière and Plurality (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1989), p. 1. 2 audience recognise [sic] the people of your time.” 4 Molière believed everyone fit material for satire – servants and masters, children and parents, students and teachers, peasants and bourgeois, clergy and congregation, all of whom were the object of the author’s ridicule for their hypocrisy, greed, selfishness, and lust. Despite the heavy transgressions of his targets, Molière chose comedy – “to correct the vices of men by entertaining them” 5 – and in doing so became the greatest comic dramatist of his century, and arguably the most accomplished of all time. 1.1 BIOGRAPHY “We do not know this great Man, and the feeble sketches we have of him are all wide off the mark, or so lacking in depth that they are not enough to allow us to know him as he was. The general public has heard untold numbers of inaccurate stories about him. There are few among his contemporaries who, in order to enjoy the reflected glory of being associated with him, have not invented adventures
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