Molière Month in Versailles 2026, the lineup of bargain-priced and free shows

The Molière Month returns to Versailles from May 30 to June 30, 2026 for a special anniversary edition marking its 30th year, boasting nearly 350 performances staged across the city. Classical and contemporary theatre, popular formats, emerging works, family-friendly offerings, and often-free shows make up this edition, which over the years has become one of the great cultural landmarks of Versailles and Île-de-France.

Born in 1996, the festival has gradually carved out a special place in the world of live performance. For a month, Versailles becomes an open-air stage, with performances held in more than sixty venues across all districts. The core idea since its inception remains the same: to bring theatre out of its usual frames and open it up to as many people as possible. This identity is also reflected in programming that blends classic texts, contemporary writing, comedies, more sensitive works, and performances designed for audiences of all ages.

Mois Molière also champions developing companies while supporting established troupes. Several artists have unveiled their first works there before continuing their journeys at the Festival Off d’Avignon, where the festival is expanding its footprint with programs at the Petit Louvre and at the former Carmel. In Versailles, around a dozen companies are hosted in residence throughout the year, linked to school outreach initiatives. This local anchor is at the heart of the festival’s ethos, which aims to combine creation, transmission and dissemination.

• To be read
• Everyone to the Opera 2026: Free opening of the Royal Opera at the Palace of Versailles, the program
• Versailles beyond the château: festivals, gardens and the art of living as told by its mayor

Another hallmark of the event is its accessibility. A large portion of the performances are offered with free admission to make theater approachable for everyone—whether you’re alone, with friends, or with family. In a press release, François de Mazières, the mayor of Versailles and founder of the festival, reiterates this ambition by noting that "the Mois Molière se veut partage." For its 30th anniversary, the lineup looks particularly broad, with an enhanced official program complemented, as every year, by numerous shows mounted by amateur troupes and musical ensembles. All of this promises to make June a major cultural moment that the city follows closely.

The Molière Month 2026 lineup:

In development

The King Is Dying: Ionesco in the Grand Stables Courtyard for Molière Month
The King Is Dying, Eugène Ionesco’s play directed by Mélanie Le Duc, is staged in the Cour de la Grande Écurie in Versailles as part of Mois Molière, on June 27 and 28, 2026. This sixties, rock ’n’ roll-tinged revival brings together Marie-Laure Desbordes, Viviane Fougereux, Wilhem Mahtallah, Jacques Poix-Terrier, Jérôme Ragon and Mélanie Surian around a king who must face his end. [Read more]

Le Grand Meaulnes: Alain-Fournier's novel adapted for the Mois Molière festival in Versailles
Le Grand Meaulnes, adaptation of Alain-Fournier's novel by Emmanuel Besnault and the Compagnie L’Éternel Été, is presented in the Cour de l’Hôtel des Affaires étrangères in Versailles, as part of the Mois Molière, on June 20, 2026. This new production brings to the stage the journey of Augustin Meaulnes, tracing a path from adolescence to the ache of unrequited love and the passage into adulthood. [Read more]

Terre des hommes: Saint-Exupéry confronts the desert in the Cour de la Grande Écurie for Molière Month
Terre des hommes, an adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s work, is staged in the Cour de la Grande Écurie at Versailles on June 17, in a production by Thierry Harcourt featuring Pierre Devaux. The piece traces Saint-Exupéry’s first official flight to Dakar, then a crash in the Sahara, and a fight for survival alongside his mechanic Prévot. [Read more]

Bouvard & Pécuchet: Flaubert in a two-hander at the Claude Debussy Auditorium for Molière Month
Bouvard & Pécuchet, an adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's novel, is presented at the Claude Debussy Auditorium in Versailles on June 15 and 16, in a staging by Géraud Bénéch. Headlined by Jean-Paul Farré and Marc Chouppart, the play follows two office workers who set out on a quest for knowledge that is as funny as it is precarious, weaving between encyclopedias, failed experiments, and a satire of the spirit of the system. [Read more]

Napoleon: the imperial epic reinterpreted by renowned authors in Versailles
Napoleon, a show adapted and directed by Maxime d’Aboville, is staged in the Cour de la Grande Écurie at Versailles for the Molière Month, on June 15, 2026, with cellist Dima Tsypkin. Drawing on texts by Chateaubriand, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Tolstoy, this production traces the Napoleonic saga through literary narration, historical memory, and the making of a myth. [Read more]

Perceval, the Tale of the Grail: a literary and musical stroll at the Potager du Roi for Molière Month
Perceval - the Tale of the Grail, a literary and musical wandering inspired by Chrétien de Troyes, is presented for the Molière Month at the Potager du Roi in Versailles on June 14, 2026, with Stéphanie Tesson and Phénomène et Cie. This narrated and sung stroll revisits the Grail quest outdoors, weaving medieval storytelling, early music, and Arthurian imagination. [Read more]

Milady in Versailles: The Three Musketeers Reimagined on Stage for Molière Month
Milady, a play by Margaux Wicart freely inspired by The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, is staged in the Cour de la Grande Écurie in Versailles on June 13 and 14, 2026, in a production by Justine Vultaggio with La Compagnie Les Modits for the Mois Molière. The show places Milady de Winter at the heart of a plot woven from humor, cynicism, vengeance and state affairs. [Read more]

Splendors and Miseries: Balzac and Lost Illusions at the Molière Month
Splendors and Miseries, adapted from Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac, is presented in the Cour de la Grande Écurie on June 11 and 12, 2026 as part of Molière Month. Directed by Paul Platel, the production revisits the Parisian rise of Lucien Chardon, a young provincial swept up by journalism, the salons, and money. [Read more]

Molière Month in Versailles: Olympe Audouard, a play about a visionary woman of the press — our review
At Molière Month 2026, Olympe Audouard returns to the spotlight in Versailles with a play at the Auditorium Claude Debussy on May 31 and June 26. The show revisits the life of a 19th-century woman of letters—a journalist, traveler and feminist—who defended her ideas through writing and activism. We’ve seen the performance; read our review. [Read more]

Louison and Monsieur Molière in Versailles: the show that kicks off Molière Month 2026 — our review
To kick off Mois Molière 2026 in Versailles, Louison and Monsieur Molière take over the courtyard of the Grand Ecurie on Saturday May 30 and Sunday May 31. Directed by Axelle Masliah and adapted from Marie-Christine Helgerson’s novel, this family-friendly show opens the festival with a theatrical dive into the world of Molière. We’ve seen the play, and here’s our take! [Read more]

The Second Surprise of Love, Marivaux at Mois Molière in Versailles
The Second Surprise of Love by Marivaux, directed by Ronan Rivière, is staged in the Cour de la Grande Écurie in Versailles. This production, featuring Francis Poulenc’s piano music, brings together La Voix des Plumes for the Mois Molière festival on June 6 and 7, 2026. [Read more]

Small Misery of Married Life: Balzac Delves Into the Couple at Versailles’ Open University
Petites misères de la vie conjugale, an adaptation of Honoré de Balzac by Pierre-Olivier Mornas, is presented at Versailles’s Open University on June 11, 2026 as part of the Molière Month. This play follows Caroline and Adolphe, a couple observed through routines, tensions, and the little frictions of married life. [Read more]

The Soldier's Tale, Ramuz and Stravinsky reimagined for Molière Month in Versailles
Adapted by Claude Gisbert and Jean Hervé Appéré, The Soldier's Tale is staged at the Versailles City Hall. This musical mime drama inspired by Ramuz and Stravinsky joins the Mois Molière lineup on June 10 and 12, 2026. [Read more]

Albert Camus's The Just, a play about justice and political violence, for the Mois Molière festival in Versailles.
The Just by Albert Camus, directed by Maxime d’Aboville, is staged in the Cour de la Grande Écurie in Versailles. This play about commitment, political violence, and moral dilemma is part of the Mois Molière festival, on June 9 and 10, 2026. [Read more]

Le Schpountz, Marcel Pagnol adapted for Molière Month in Versailles
Adapted from Marcel Pagnol by Arthur Cachia, Le Schpountz will be staged at the Cour de la Grande Écurie in Versailles on June 8, 2026. This comedy, directed by Delphine Depardieu and Arthur Cachia, joins the Mois Molière program for its 30th anniversary. [Read more]

What if it were her? Franck Buirod's play at Molière Month in Versailles
Et si c’était elle ?, by Franck Buirod, is staged at the Université Ouverte de Versailles as part of Mois Molière, on June 2, 2026. [Read more]

Don't Stop Running, the play adapted from Mathieu Palain's novel at the Mois Molière festival.
Adapted from Mathieu Palain's novel, the play Don't Stop Running revisits Toumany Coulibaly's journey at the Mois Molière festival in Versailles, on June 2 and 3, 2026. [Read more]

Bérénice 34-44, the play adapted from Isabelle Stibbe's novel, in Versailles for Molière Month.
Adapted from Isabelle Stibbe’s novel, Bérénice 34-44 is staged in the Courtyard of the Hôtel des Affaires étrangères in Versailles, for Molière Month, on June 6 and 7, 2026. This play, directed by Pierre-Olivier Scotto, revisits the fate of a Jewish actress facing the Occupation. [Read more]

The Village of the German, the play adapted from Boualem Sansal for Versailles's Molière Month.
The German Village, or The Journal of the Schiller Brothers, adapted from Boualem Sansal's novel, is presented at the Mois Molière festival in Versailles on Monday, June 1, 2026. [Read more]

Potager Fantasies during Molière Month: theater takes root in the King's Kitchen Garden
The Garden Fantasies are presented at the King's Garden (Potager du Roi) in Versailles on June 6, 7 and 13, 2026, as part of the Mois Molière’s 30th anniversary. Designed by Stéphanie Tesson with Phénomène et Cie, this theatrical journey gives voice to vegetables, fruits, plants and insects through works by contemporary authors. [Read more]

Dom Juan at Molière Month: Molière’s classic returns to the stage in Versailles
Don Juan returns to the stage in Versailles, in the Court of the Grand Stables, on June 4 and 5, for the 30th anniversary of Mois Molière. A decade after The Tricks of Scapin, the L’Éternel Été Company revisits Molière with an adaptation faithful to the original text, directed by Emmanuel Besnault. [Read more]

Don’t delay in book your seats, as tickets sell out fast. Some performances are free, others are budget-friendly, but all require a reservation. Reservations open on May 20 for the period May 30–June 14, and on June 3 for the period June 15–30. This year again, the lineup is broad, and will appeal to both adults and children. Online booking is mandatory. Most shows are at 4 euros!