L'Avare

Ludovic Lagarde’s L’ Avare sends shockwaves across the stage. The Miser makes life miserable for those around him, to the delight of audiences! He is a tormentor of others and himself. As greedy as he is miserly, Harpagon wants to accumulate and retain in equal measure. Above all, he does not want to consume in any shape or form. In Lagarde’s staging, Harpagon’s dwelling is void of furniture but, by virtue of the rule of profitability, it is cluttered up with packages waiting to be redirected. All forms of solidarity, all social and family ties can be melted down into gold. For Harpagon, wealth has no other purpose than to disappear into the depths of a black hole, similar to the one he digs at the end of his garden in order to bury his hoard. Too bad for the others - and for him, for Harpagon is effectively digging his own grave... How can he escape it? Is it really possible? Ludovic Lagarde’s ingenious staging brings out both aspects of L’Avare, this milestone in black humour. All the comedy is there, in that we never miss out on Harpagon’s undying thirst for life (even he himself wants to remarry!). But this is also black humour, for the Miser is incurable: the gold coins are his bodily companion, and his hoard his resting place... What future, then, can such a man offer his children? And what if his world is indeed our world? What is this face we see in the gloomy mirror Molière holds before us?