Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere (1622-73), the French actor-manager and dramatist, was one of the theatre's greatest comic classics. Inspired by traditions of French farce and the 'commedia dell'arte', he courted controversy with his satiric commentaries on the society of his time and on eternal human foibles, but was saved by the patronage of the 'Sun King' Louis XIV. Neil Bartlett is one of his generation's most respected and innovative theatre directors. His highly individual translations of French and German classical theatre, and charcteristically theatrical adaptations of Dickens, most of them originated while he was Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith in London, have been played around the world. His plays have premiered at the Royal Court, at the Manchester International Festival and at the National Theatre in London.
