L'école des femmes

A comedy of emancipation in which Robin Renucci brings out its vivid modernity and critical force. “Like a piece of wax between my hands, she is, and I can give her whatever shape I please.” Thus speaks Arnolphe, who attempts to shape the perfect wife by keeping Agnès in ignorance. A paranoid guardian consumed by the fear of being deceived, he will do everything to maintain his power over the young woman. But domination is not love, and Agnès will escape the trap through herself and her own feelings, say no and assert her freedom. Created in summer 2026 at the Fêtes nocturnes de Grignan, The School for Wives forms, for Robin Renucci, a diptych with The Lesson, presented at La Criée this winter. From the 17th century that belongs to him and in his dazzling language, Molière examines a timeless desire for control. On stage, the confinement in which Arnolphe wants to keep Agnès is symbolized by a small isolated wooden house, increasingly barricaded yet increasingly fragile, as the project of submission collapses before our eyes. “In this production, I aspire to make the popular dimension of this great court comedy vibrate, revealing the profound humanity and critical force that animate it. Because beyond the laughter, Molière examines a timeless anxiety: that of men faced with women’s autonomy, their intelligence and the mystery they would like to control.” Robin Renucci