THE MISANTHROPE

About the show

We have long been living in an exaggerated simulation of reality. Politics resembles a reality show, summits like photo ops. Heads of state and CEOs shine only with gestures and empty phrases. Everything seems like diplomatic theater made up of posts and platitudes. In a very similar world, Molière's "The Misanthrope" raises his voice: Alceste, the radically honest man, wants no compliments, no ritualized lies, no social lubricants, but truth. His refusal to play the games of society makes him an outsider—and the most fascinating character in this comedy. The director of "The Misanthrope" is Sebastian Baumgarten, whose drama and opera productions have received widespread attention for years and who was represented in Düsseldorf, for example, with his production of Brecht's "Mother Courage".