Molière Month at Versailles takes place every June in the royal city! A playwright with close ties to the city's history, since he was a close friend of the court of Louis XIV, so much so that to pay tribute to him, on the occasion of the 400ᵉ anniversary of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin's birth, in 2022, the city has inaugurated a statue of the playwright, created by artist Xavier Veilhan. The statue has been installed in a grove on Place Lyautey, opposite the Château Rive Gauche train station. What's special about this work is that Molière is seated without a pedestal, in a meditative posture, inviting passers-by to sit down beside him. It's a singular way of reconnecting with the theater's spirit of accessibility.
This bronze sculpture, conceived as a "wave" in the words of its creator, is designed to be touched, approached and even shared."I wanted to do something in a very classical, traditional form of celebration, but at the same time, renewing this form to do something accessible, based on the fact that Molière was a court character, a "battler", someone who was on the trestles," Xavier Veilhan explained at the inauguration. He continues:"Today, he might be a character like a stand-up comedian". The work, cast at the Fonderie de Coubertin, uses codes inspired by a sculpture by Jean-Jacques Caffieri housed at the Comédie-Française.
The siting of this statue in Versailles is no coincidence. It was in this royal city that Molière first performed L'Impromptu de Versailles in 1663, when Louis XIV came to the hunting lodge inherited from his father. Other plays such as Tartuffe, which was quickly censored, L'Amour médecin and George Dandin were also performed there. For François de Mazières, Mayor of Versailles and founder of the festival, the move was a natural one:"The link between Molière, who was Louis XIV's favorite artist, at least in the field of entertainment, is part of our history. For us, you know, it's like Mozart in Salzburg".
The presence of this work of art at the entrance to the town, close to theTourist Office, therefore has symbolic value. It is a reminder both of Molière' s historic importance to the cultural identity of Versailles, and of the municipality's desire to make this heritage accessible to the general public.
Alongside this installation, Molière Month offers a dense program of several hundred performances in dozens of venues across the city. The selection features both revisited classics and new works inspired by the playwright's world.
And one ambition for the festival: to bring classical theatrical heritage into dialogue with a variety of contemporary forms. It also reinforces the role of Versailles as a lively place for creation and cultural dissemination, in the continuity of the link that already united Molière and the court of the Sun King.
More than a commemoration, Xavier Veilhan 's statue of Molière is part of a process of interaction with the public. By removing the pedestal, the artist and the city intend to abolish the distance between the spectator and the figure of the author. "For us too, it's important to have a statue of Molière at the entrance to the city," recalled François de Mazières, underlining the importance of this heritage in the DNA of Versailles.
This installation adds a tangible dimension to the festival: that of a physical encounter with Molière, not just through his plays, but through a contemporary work accessible to all. Just a stone's throw from the station, the playwright seems to be back among locals and visitors alike, reminding us that his theater is first and foremost a matter of proximity and sharing.
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