Watched The Misanthrope (National Theatre Live) at the cinema last night, and it was very, very good.
The original play by Moliere (a 17th century French satirist) has as its titular protagonist a weary intellectual and writer self-insert named Alceste who angrily despises the hypocrisies and inequalities of Parisian society, especially in the theatre and at the royal court of Louis XIV, but also is in love with Celimene, a beautiful socialite who pretty much epitomises those things. Eventually, when he discovers that Celimene has been cheating on him with several other dudes, Alceste begs her to leave Paris and come with him to a rural exile to escape modern life, but of course she refuses, and he despairingly exiles himself alone.
This version, set in modern London, gender-swaps Alceste to Alice (Sandra Oh), a fiercely independent and opinionated American writer who angrily despises the hypocrisies and inequalities of modern society, especially in the arts and politics, but is also in love with Stefan (Tom Mison), a handsome actor who pretty much epitomises those things. Alice is supported by her friend John (Paul Chahidi, as excellent as ever), a playwright and author self-insert/audience POV character who pleads with her to moderate her frequent tirades and just try to get on with people, once in a while.
There's quite a collection of other characters who are both facets of modern media (Claire, Stefan's agent; Indira, his publicist; Allan, his tech support; Elaine, his ex-wife) but interesting enough in their own right, which I think is an improvement on the original. There are a few excellent references to Moliere, culminating in a 17th century French ball which Stefan arranges to celebrate Alice's latest book but which also clearly shows what an outsider she is to the system that they all need and take part in.
I think the thing I liked best is that the writer (Martin Crimp, who also previously adapted the play in 1996) does a brilliant job of engaging our sympathies for all the characters, especially Alice. Alice is neither a sanctimonious prig (as Alceste is mostly in the original) nor a tortured prophet; she's right about most things but not necessarily about how to say them, and her final despair is entirely understandable. Stefan, John, Claire, Elaine, etc are reasonable enough about what they say, and they can't leave the system - how would they eat? What about childcare? What about the mortgage? It's just a tour de force, overall, and I recommend seeing it if you can.
