Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (known as The Bourgeois Gentleman or The Middle-Class Gentleman) is a five-act comédie-ballet—a ballet interrupted by spoken dialogue—by Molière, first presented on October 14, 1670 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. The music was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, the choreography was by Pierre Beauchamp, the sets were by Carlo Vigarani and the costumes were done by the ... more

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (known as The Bourgeois Gentleman or The Middle-Class Gentleman) is a five-act comédie-ballet—a ballet interrupted by spoken dialogue—by Molière, first presented on October 14, 1670 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. The music was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, the choreography was by Pierre Beauchamp, the sets were by Carlo Vigarani and the costumes were done by the chevalier d’Arvieux. Le Bourgeois gentilhomme satirizes attempts at social climbing and the bourgeois personality, poking fun both at the vulgar, pretentious middle-class and the vain, snobbish aristocracy. The title is meant as an oxymoron: in Molière's France, a "gentleman" was by definition nobly born, and thus there could be no such thing as a bourgeois gentleman. The play is in prose (except for the ballet openings which are in verse). The original production brought together the finest actors and musicians of the time. Molière played the... less