Photo: #Romain Duris plays Moliere in the new film about a mysterious period in the iconic playwrights life, when he disappeared for six months.
Photo: #French director Laurent Tirard says he didn't really study Moliere's work until about three years ago, but when he did, he fell in love.

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Laurent Tirard seeks Moliere's missing months

by Euan Kerr, Minnesota Public Radio
August 10, 2007

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St. Paul, Minn. — The French hold the playwright Moliere in the high esteem the English-speaking world reserves for Shakespeare.

Like the Bard of Avon, there is mystery about Moliere's life.

In 1644 the authorities threw Moliere, then a struggling actor, into debtors prison.

On his release, he disappeared for six months. On his return, he led his company on a 13-year tour which was to make him famous, and earned him a place at the French Court.

When French film director Laurant Tirard heard this story, it got him thinking. He told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr it led him to making his new film called "Moliere."

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