Les Fourberies de Scapin back at the Comédie-Française

Denis Podalydès has been staging Molière's Bourgeois Gentilhomme for several years now, and at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord and the Opéra Royal de Versailles, he has been filling theatres with a version that is as funny as it is beautiful, and deeply respectful of its origins. The time has come for a new page to be written. Denis Podalydès, one of the Comédie-Française's most prolific members, both inside and outside the company, once again unveils Les Fourberies de Scapin, created in 2017.

A fan of comedy-ballets, Molière's Les Fourberies de Scapin was a different kind of play. Written at a time when the Palais-Royal was being renovated, the play had none of the constraints of Molière's earlier works: very few sets, fast-paced production.

• To be read
• This week's tips in Paris and the Ile-de-France region, December 8-14, 2025

Current and upcoming plays at the Comédie-Française
Every season, the Comédie-Française offers a rich program of theater classics and contemporary creations. A must-see for lovers of tragedy, comedy and drama, with constantly renewed productions. [Read more]

It's pure theater, akin to commedia dell'arte. The plot takes place in Naples. Léandre and Octave both have authoritarian fathers. Both in love with a daughter their father won't approve of, they rely on Scapin, Léandre's valet, who is as mischievous as he is cunning... Using a variety of stratagems to make the old men bend, the plot never stops twisting and turning.