The Social Climber
by Paddy Gormley
Read by AWL on Monday 24 January 2011
This adaptation of Le Bourgeois
gentilhomme was inspired by Paddy
Gormley’s
observation that modern theatre
audiences would surely be puzzled and
discouraged by Molière’s original: the plot
does not begin to unfold properly until the
third act.
In The Social Climber, the action of the play
is reorganised into nine scenes, with the
emphasis on telling the story. The
translation is broadly faithful to Molière, but
using modern idiomatic English and
including only a few capricious additions.
The text is in rhyming verse, using very
short lines (mostly just four or six syllables)
to energise the action.
| Monsieur Jourdain, social climber | Peter Saracen |
| Madame Jourdain, his wife | Rosalind Adler |
| Lucile, their daughter | Rosemary Francis |
| Nicole, servant | Nadia Ostacchini |
| Cléonte, in love with Lucile | Lee Peck |
| Covielle, valet to Cléonte | Simon Brandon |
| Count Dorante, in love with Dorimène | Edmund Dehn |
| Marquise Dorimène | Jeryl Burgess |
| Music Master | Kirsty Bennett |
| Dancing Master | Ingrid Evans |
| Fencing Master | Richard Ward |
| Philosophy Master | Denys Graham |
| Tailor | Richard Ward |
| Music by | Will Gormley and Paddy Gormley |
| Sound technician | Will Gormley |
| Directed by | Kenneth Michaels |
| Click here for Paddy Gormley's profile | |
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