La Locandiera ・ Comédie-Française

“Nowhere else have I depicted a woman so seductive or so dangerous as this one”. In Mirandolina, Carlo Goldoni created one of the first lead female roles in the history of the Comédie-Italienne: a woman with a formidable natural charm.

“Nowhere else have I depicted a woman so seductive or so dangerous as this one” warns the author in his preface to La Locandiera. In Mirandolina, a maidservant character to boot, he created one of the first lead female roles in the history of the Comédie-Italienne. Clearly, this woman of wit has a formidable natural charm to which the travellers who stay in her inn succumb, notably a count and a marquis. But their rivalry is soon disrupted by the arrival of a knight whose misogyny and rough manners irritate the young woman and sharpen her sensitivity: her only wish will be to conquer his heart, and thus to satisfy her own desire for vengeance. Seen by some as an “enchanting siren” with a frivolous temperament, or described by others as the heroine of a feminist play, Mirandolina nonetheless surpasses these categories. As explained by Myriam Tanant, whose final translation this was to be, between incarnations of the verb to have (the Count, who bought his title) and the verb to be (the Knight), Mirandolina embodies the verb to do, standing for the concept of freedom and success through hard work.
This production marks Alain Françon’s ninth time directing the Troupe, extending a companionship initiated in 1986. His staging reveals the incomparable grace of this work, which stems from the complexity of the feelings, classes and genres it brings into play.

NEW PRODUCTION

With the patronage of August Debouzy

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