Sacré Molière

At Acte 2 Théâtre: welcoming Sacre Molière

At Acte 2 Théâtre in Lyon, we are delighted to welcome Sacre Molière to our stage, a vibrant encounter with the genius of French comedy that speaks as vividly to today’s audiences as it did to those of the seventeenth century. In keeping with our season’s commitment to daring reinterpretations of the repertory, this production offers a swift, playful, and lucid journey through Molière’s world, where sharp satire meets physical exuberance, and where verse finds the pulse of contemporary speech. Our intimate auditorium brings the performers into immediate proximity with spectators, highlighting the wit of the text and the finesse of the ensemble’s timing. Agile scenography, nimble costume shifts, and a rhythmic approach to language allow archetypal figures to spring to life with fresh urgency. Expect a theatrical experience that embraces the spirit of troupe work: actors doubling roles, meta-theatrical asides, and a mischievous sense of complicity with the house. From a technical standpoint, our team has shaped a lighting and sound environment that keeps the show crisp and playful while preserving the elegance of classical diction—an approach designed to make each repartee, each mask, and each unmasking ring clearly for every seat at Acte 2 Théâtre.

The artist’s current moment and creative approach

As hosts, we are proud to present Sacre Molière at a time when the company behind it is in full artistic bloom—touring widely, refining their ensemble language, and deepening an approach that fuses historical insight with live, present-tense theatricality. Their current work is anchored in a love of the repertoire—embracing the bite of social satire and the buoyant mechanics of farce—while drawing on movement, music, and direct audience address to keep the evening buoyant and surprising. The production’s dramaturgy threads together emblematic figures and situations from plays such as Le Misanthrope, Tartuffe, Dom Juan, L’Avare, and Le Malade imaginaire, reframing them with an eye to our era’s foibles and vanities. Without diluting the rigor of alexandrines, the staging teases out the muscularity of Molière’s language, pairing exacting verse work with a generous comic sensibility. Alongside the performances at Acte 2 Théâtre, the artistic team is nurturing outreach encounters and workshops that share their rehearsal methods—table work, improvisation around classical scenes, and exploration of comédie-ballet rhythms—helping students and devoted playgoers discover why this repertoire remains inexhaustibly alive.

For audiences joining us in Lyon, Sacre Molière offers a full-bodied evening: a quicksilver cast charting the razor’s edge between satire and tenderness, a staging that pivots from salon intrigue to carnival energy, and a playful dialogue with theatrical tradition that never becomes museum-like. We program the piece at Acte 2 Théâtre because it embodies what our stage was built to host: ensemble artistry at close range, a live pulse between performers and public, and writing that rewards the ear while tickling the ribs. Whether you come steeped in the classics or discovering them for the first time, you will recognize the evergreen tensions Molière mapped—hypocrisy and candor, desire and duty, appetite and virtue—filtered through a contemporary tempo that favors velocity without sacrificing nuance. Our front-of-house and technical teams have calibrated the experience for clarity and comfort, from sightlines to the crisp articulation of verse. We invite you to arrive ready to lean in, laugh loudly, and savor the way Sacre Molière makes yesterday’s theatre feel unmistakably of today on the stage of Acte 2 Théâtre.