Don Juan

Molière’s “Don Juan”, a masterpiece of the classical repertoire but also a work that stirred up more controversy in its time than any other, staged in a contemporary version by Michail Marmarinos which integrates fragments from other “Don Juans” and exists in the grey zone between two idioms: the cinematic and the theatrical.

Don Juan, the eternal heart-breaker who gives his passions free rein, the lover driven by his relentless desire to sample life’s every joy, the sceptic who engages unhesitatingly with the metaphysical, has always enraged conservative societies by calling their norms into question, shining a spotlight on their hypocrisy, and delighting in breaking their taboos. Don Juan exposes his enemies but also himself with his irresistible charm, his aura of limitless freedom and his acid wit.

A hero/legend and a play/enigma that poses big questions about human nature and the nature of desire, fear and freedom. “Don Juan is a landmark character on the map of human desires and fears; as real as an after-image, as imaginary as a poem”, Marmarinos notes. “A notional, fictitious rebellion against everything that masquerades as stability, packed with victims both real and imaginary”.