Le Bourgeois gentilhomme Tickets

Royal Opera of Versailles (Palace of Versailles), Paris, France

Scene 5 from the opera "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme"

Scene 1 from the opera "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme"

Scene 2 from the opera "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme"

Scene 3 from the opera "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme"

Scene 4 from the opera "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme"

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Available Dates: 12 - 22 Feb, 2026 (10 events)

Important Info

Type: Ballet

City: Paris, France

Duration: 3h 30min with 1 interval

Acts: 5

Intervals: 1

Sung in: French

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast

Performers

Choose the date to see the peformers

Creators

Composer: Jean-Baptiste Lully

Choreographer: Kaori Ito

Director: Denis Podalydès

Director: Emmanuel Bourdieu

Playwright: Jean-Baptiste Molière

Overview

Comedy-ballet in five acts created at the Château de Chambord in 1670.Comedy-ballet in five acts created at the Château de Chambord in 1670.

Here is a monument, which celebrated its 350th anniversary in 2020, and whose power remains intact: thanks to Molière's skillful writing, we remain, even today, hanging on the lips of this bourgeois Denis Podalydès takes hold of this classic and offers a production full of humor and lightness, perfectly in harmony with the text and the devastating spirit of Molière.

In Le Bourgeois gentilhomme , Molière paints the portrait of a spirit adventurer with no other desire than to escape his condition as a commoner and enter a terra incognita that, by birth, is forbidden to him. Why make fun of Monsieur Jourdain? The bourgeois simply prides himself on discovering what we today call "culture," and sets about the vast task of bringing his dreams to life... And what does it matter if these dreams are those of a ridiculous man. By choosing to restore the play to its original form of a comedy-ballet set to music by Lully, Denis Podalydès summons all the arts. With this theatrical celebration costumed by Christian Lacroix, he aims for the apotheosis of the senses so longed for by his hero. It is obviously a question of laughing at comedy. But how can one not feel tenderness for this man without qualities who is trying to single-handedly initiate the first cultural revolution. Raised after a thousand comic adventures to the rank of "Mamamouchi", Monsieur Jourdain lives his hour of glory in music and dance, sick of his bourgeoisie, an imaginary gentleman, both granted and beaten, duped and triumphant, in that rare theatrical moment when ridicule gives way to pure wonder.

History

Premiere of this production: 14 October 1670, Château de Chambord Versailles, France

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme is a five-act comédie-ballet – a play intermingled with music, dance and singing – written by Molière, first presented on 14 October 1670 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors

Synopsis

The play takes place at Mr. Jourdain's house in Paris. Jourdain is a middle-aged "bourgeois" whose father grew rich as a cloth merchant. The foolish Jourdain now has one aim in life, which is to rise above this middle-class background and be accepted as an aristocrat. To this end, he orders splendid new clothes and is very happy when the tailor's boy mockingly addresses him as "my Lord". He applies himself to learning the gentlemanly arts of fencing, dancing, music, and philosophy, despite his age; in doing so he continually manages to make a fool of himself, to the disgust of his hired teachers. His philosophy lesson becomes a basic lesson on language in which he is surprised and delighted to learn that he has been speaking prose all his life without knowing it.

Par ma foi ! il y a plus de quarante ans que je dis de la prose sans que j'en susse rien, et je vous suis le plus obligé du monde de m'avoir appris cela.

My faith! For more than forty years I have been speaking prose while knowing nothing of it, and I am the most obliged person in the world to you for telling me so.

Madame Jourdain, his intelligent wife, sees that he is making a fool of himself and urges him to return to his previous middle-class life, and to forget all he has learned. A cash-strapped nobleman called Dorante has attached himself to M. Jourdain. He secretly despises Jourdain but flatters his aristocratic dreams. For example, by telling Jourdain that he mentioned his name to the King at Versailles, he can get Jourdain to pay his debts. Jourdain's dreams of being upper-class go higher and higher. He dreams of marrying a Marchioness, Dorimène, and having his daughter Lucille marry a nobleman. But Lucille is in love with the middle-class Cléonte. Of course, M. Jourdain refuses his permission for Lucille to marry Cléonte.

Then Cléonte, with the assistance of his valet Covielle and Mme Jourdain, disguises himself and presents himself to Jourdain as the son of the Sultan of Turkey. Jourdain is taken in and is very pleased to have his daughter marry foreign royalty. He is even more delighted when the "Turkish prince" informs him that, as father of the bride, he too will be officially ennobled at a special ceremony. The play ends with this ridiculous ceremony, including Sabir standing in for Turkish.

Venue Info

Royal Opera of Versailles (Palace of Versailles) - Paris
3 Place Léon Gambetta, Versailles

The Royal Opera of Versailles is the main theatre and opera house of the Palace of Versailles. The Royal Opera is one of the greatest works by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel. Inaugurated in 1770 during the reign of Louis XV, it was at the time the largest concert hall in Europe, and was also a great technical achievement and an impressive feat of decorative refinement. A theatre for monarchic and then republican life, it has hosted celebrations, shows and parliamentary debates.

Designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, it is also known as the Théâtre Gabriel. The interior decoration by Augustin Pajou is constructed almost entirely of wood, painted to resemble marble in a technique known as faux marble. The excellent acoustics of the opera house is at least partly due to its wooden interior.

The house is located at the northern extremity of the north wing of the palace. General public access to the theater is gained through the two-story vestibule. Some parts of the Opéra, such as the King's Loge and the King's Boudoir represent some of the earliest expressions of what would become known as the Louis XVI style.

Lully’s Persée — written in 1682, the year Louis XIV moved into the palace — inaugurated the Opéra on 16 May 1770 in celebration of the marriage of the dauphin — the future Louis XVI — to Marie Antoinette.

The Opéra Royal can serve either as a theater for opera, stage plays, or orchestral events, when it can accommodate an audience of 712 or as a ballroom when the floor of the orchestra level of the auditorium can be raised to the level of the stage. On these occasions, the Opéra can accommodate 1,200.