The Miser

Both siblings are in love: Elise with Valère, who works for her father, and Cléante with their neighbor Marianne. The couples need money to pay for their weddings and start their lives together. Hesitantly, Elise and Cléante approach their father to ask for his support.

But Harpagon has other things on his mind: he has buried a money chest in the garden and is now afraid it might be stolen. At the same time, he has hatched his own plans: If Elise marries the old but wealthy merchant Anselme and Cléante marries a wealthy widow, then Harpagon could take the penniless Marianne as his wife. Elise and Cléante decide to stand up to their tyrannical father for the first time in their lives and begin devising schemes that grow increasingly complicated and convoluted.

“The Miser” is a play about a man who, driven by his greed for money and his love for a younger woman, attempts to fight against death and transience.

With “The Miser,” Thomas Ostermeier directs a play by Molière for the first time. Lars Eidinger, who most recently collaborated with Ostermeier on “Richard III,” plays the title role.