Exchange launches new season with The Miser

Following a Summer Season which closed with the MIF hit, Everybody Loves A Winner, the Royal Exchange open their Autumn/Winter season with Moliere’s The Miser.

The penny-pinching Harpagon reckons there’s a mint to be made in marriage and intends to cash in on both his children and himself – but Elise and Cleante believe in love over money and have fallen head-over-heels for suitors of their own.

Someone’s going to get married tonight, but as the children fight to follow their hearts’ desires whatever the cost, Harpagon plots to stop his credit being crunched, and nothing and nobody is quite as it seems in Moliere’s fast-paced comedy.

Leading the cast is Derek Griffiths (pictured), probably best known as a regular on the BBC’s iconic children’s programme Play School. He has extensive acting credits which include West End productions of Noises Off, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,  Miss Saigon and Beauty and The Beast. Television and film work includes Doctors, Holby City and Fierce Creatures and his many previous appearances at the Royal Exchange include The Nerd, The Government Inspector, The Odd Couple, The Recruiting Officer, Nude With Violin (for which he received an MEN Best Actor Award) and Loot.

The Miser is directed by Helena Kaut-Howson, designed by Ashley Martin-Davis and the piece is translated by Braham Murray & Robert Cogo-Fawcett. It runs from 2 Sept – 3 Oct.