Molière Award

The Nuit des Molières (The Molières Night), more commonly known informally as the Molière Award in French Les Molières, recognizes achievement in live French theatre is the national theatre award of France. The awards are presented and decided by the Association professionnelle et artistique du théâtre (APAT) and supported by the French Ministry of Culture at an annual ceremony in Paris. The awards are given for French productions and performances.

The Molière Awards are considered the highest France theatre honor, the French theatre industry's equivalent to the American Tony Award in live productions in the US, or the Olivier Award and Premios Max for theatre in the UK and Spain, the Academy Awards (Oscars) or the César Awards (The French Oscars) for motion pictures, the Grammy Awards or Victoires de la Musique for music.

The award was created by Georges Cravenne, who was also the creator of the César Award for cinema. The name of the award is an homage to the seventeenth-century French dramatist Molière.

Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière (/moʊlˈjɛər/;French: [mɔ.ljɛːʁ]; 15 January 1622 – 17 February 1673), was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature. Among Molière's best known works are The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, Tartuffe, The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Bourgeois Gentleman.

Born into a prosperous family and having studied at the Collège de Clermont (now Lycée Louis-le-Grand), Molière was well suited to begin a life in the theatre. Thirteen years as an itinerant actor helped him polish his comic abilities while he began writing, combining Commedia dell'arte elements with the more refined French comedy.

Through the patronage of aristocrats including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans—the brother of Louis XIV—Molière procured a command performance before the King at the Louvre. Performing a classic play by Pierre Corneille and a farce of his own, The Doctor in Love, Molière was granted the use of salle du Petit-Bourbon near the Louvre, a spacious room appointed for theatrical performances. Later, Molière was granted the use of the theatre in the Palais-Royal. In both locations he found success among Parisians with plays such as The Affected Ladies, The School for Husbands and The School for Wives. This royal favour brought a royal pension to his troupe and the title Troupe du Roi ("The King's Troupe"). Molière continued as the official author of court entertainments.

Molière (2007 film)

Molière is a 2007 film by French director Laurent Tirard and starring Romain Duris as Molière. It was released in Europe in January 2007 and in the United States in July 2007. It was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival where Fabrice Luchini won the Silver George for Best Actor. The screenplay was co-written by Tirard and Grégoire Vigneron.

Plot

The film begins in 1658, when the French actor and playwright returns to Paris with his theatrical troupe to perform in the theater the king's brother has given him. Most of the film is in the form of a flashback to 1645. Following an unsuccessful run as a tragic actor, Molière is released from debtor's prison by Monsieur Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini), a wealthy commoner with social pretensions, who agrees to pay the young actor's debts if Molière teaches him to act.

Jourdain, a married man with two daughters, hopes to use this talent to ingratiate himself with Célimène (Ludivine Sagnier), a recently widowed aristocrat with whom he has become obsessed. He hopes to perform a short play he has written for the occasion. Molière, however, has been presented to the family and staff of Monsieur Jourdain as Tartuffe, a priest who is to serve as tutor for the Jourdains' younger daughter. As the story progresses Molière proceeds to fall in love with Jourdain's neglected wife, Elmire (Laura Morante). Sub-plots involve the love life of the Jourdains' older daughter, and the intrigues of the penniless and cynical aristocrat Dorante (Édouard Baer) at the expense of the gullible Jourdain.

Molière (disambiguation)

Molière (1622-1673) was a French playwright.

Molière may also refer to:

See also