In a gender flip, Danielle Cormack will star in a new version of Molière’s The Misanthrope written by Justin Fleming.

Bell Shakespeare has revealed that its second production for 2018 will be a new Australian version of Molière’s The Misanthrope by Justin Fleming – and, in a gender twist, the title role will be played by Danielle Cormack. The news follows July’s announcement that Bell’s first production for next year will be a production of Antony and Cleopatra starring Catherine McClements and Johnny Carr.

The Misanthrope is a co-production with Griffin Theatre Company, and is directed by Griffin’s Artistic Director Lee Lewis. It will be the third time that Lewis has directed one of Fleming’s rollicking Molière adaptations, written in rhyme and using plenty of contemporary Aussie vernacular, for Bell Shakespeare. In 2016, Lewis directed The Literati (co-produced with Griffin), following The School for Wives in 2012. Bell Shakespeare also staged a production of Fleming’s adaptation of Tartuffe in 2014, directed by Peter Evans, Bell Shakespeare’s AD.

Announcing the new adaptation of The Misanthrope, Evans said: “Bell Shakespeare has staged a number of Molière’s works over the years, written by the...