THE MISER

THE MISER

by Molière

Director:

Slobodan Unkovski 

Translation:

Svetlana Pancheva 

Stage Version:

Slobodan Unkovski, Diana Koloini, Pavlina Doublekova and the actors  

Scenography:

Miodrag Tabački 

Costumes:

Aleksandar Noshpal

Light designer:

Daniel Yovkov

Music:

Irena Popović Dragović 

Choreography:

Antigonе Gyra

Assistant Set Designer:

Tsetska Ivaylova

Cast:

Valentin Ganev, Georgi Mamalev, Paraskeva Djukelova, Eva Tepavicharova, Mihail Petrov, Hristo Cheshmedjiev, Nencho Kostov, Martin Dimitrov, Aleksandra Svilenova, Kremena Slavcheva, Irina Miteva, Hristo Terziev, Yavor Valkanov, Sofia Bobcheva, Darin Angelov, Vladislava Nikolova, Darina Radeva, Antonia Kundakova, Gergana Zmiycharova, Martina Peneva, Ivan Nikolov, Aleksandar Tonev, Aleksandar Kanev, Dimitar Krumov, Stefan Saraivanov, Marin Rangelov

Musicians:

Slav Bistrev, Georges Palikarski, Nikolay Kazakov, Ivaylo Florov

The Miser is a five-act comedy by the legendary French actor and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622–1673) better known by the pseudonym Molière. First premiered on September 9th 1668 at the Palais-Royal in Paris with Molière himself in the title role of Harpagon, the play remains a biting masterpiece.

The story unfolds in the Parisian home of Harpagon—a widower, father of two, and a moneylender maniacally obsessed with his wealth. His all-consuming passion for hoarding gold coins dictates every breath he takes, making him willing to "trade" the happiness of his children, Elise and Cleante, arranging marriage prospects to partners chosen solely for their financial status.

But the children possess an equally powerful force of their own: love. Cleante is enamored with Marianne, while Elise loves Valère—a nobleman in disguise working as Harpagon’s steward just to stay near her. 

The clash between these two opposing forces—the father’s greed and his children’s sincere love—is the primary drive of the action, leading to a series of tangled and comic situations. Against this backdrop, the character of the miser is fully revealed, becoming a namesake and, above all, a warning for centuries to come.

Unlike other iconic plays by Molière, The Miser has been staged only twice before at the National Theatre in Sofia—in 1905 by Ivan Popov and in 1920 by Geno Kirov. Utilizing the power of comedy, farce, and satire, Slobodan Unkovski’s production seamlessly fuses the play’s plotlines and historical layers with the modern world, where the value of money continues to rise.

"The Miser is one of Molière's most complex works. This superbly written play confronts us with various questions that have no simple answers. Who are the misers of the 21st century? How can they be recognized? What do they hoard and what do they do with the accumulated wealth? When are they satiated? Is there a sum or an amount of possessions beyond which they can stop thinking only of themselves and begin to love someone else?

The Miser is one of the plays by Molière written in prose. For me, it is attractive also because of the opportunity it gives me to 'juggle' with different styles and approaches to acting. Therefore, instead of the eleven to thirteen actors that make up the play's cast, two ensembles perform together on stage in this National Theatre production. The first, which holds a certain superiority, performs in a more classical, high style. The second ensemble represents a traveling troupe looking for its place under the sun.

A third group also appears on stage, behaving as if sent by the author himself to look after the work, claiming the right to determine how it is correct and permissible to perform Molière. In practice, however, everyone ends up involved in the same story with shared ambitions: while Harpagon wants to keep his wealth, everyone else is trying to take it from him to achieve their own goals.

Nearly four hundred years after The Miser was written, I hope that with this performance we manage to give ourselves the freedom to explore and apply what we have learned from contemporary drama, because play, playing, outplaying, vanity, and superiority are wonderful starting points for approaching Molière’s work today."

 — Slobodan Unkovski

Slobodan Unkovski (b. 1948 in Skopje) is a theatre director and a professor of acting and directing. His active creative career began in 1971. He is the recipient of nearly all major theatre awards in the region, and his productions are regularly invited to various festivals around the world—from Venezuela and London to Belgrade.

In addition to the theatres in Skopje, he works extensively with the Slovenian National Theatre in Ljubljana, the Hessian State Theatre of Wiesbaden, the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge/Boston, the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade, and many others. He has directed numerous performances in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, the USA, Germany, and Russia. Molière’s The Miser is his first production in Bulgaria.

His work is inextricably linked with the most significant playwright from North Macedonia, Goran Stefanovski. Slobodan Unkovski has directed eleven of his plays and one dramatization. He has also contributed to the popularization of Dejan Dukovski (Powder Keg and other texts), Milena Marković, and other contemporary authors.

Parallel to his directorial practice, Slobodan Unkovski is actively involved in teaching. Together with Meta Hočevar, Angelina Atlagić, Radivoje Dinulović, and Goran Stefanovski, he led the international master’s program in theatre directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje. He has also taught in the master’s program at Brooklyn College in New York. He has conducted a series of workshops for actors and young directors at the Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard and has been an artist-in-residence at several theatres worldwide.

Dramaturgs:

Diana Koloini, Pavlina Dоublekova 

Assistant to the Director:

Stefani Hristova

Assistant Directors:

Elena Kostova, Marinela Sivcheva 

Poster Designer: 

Program Designer: 

Photographer:

Premiere: May 27, 28, and 29, 2026