Moliere has yet to write his masterpiece 'Tartuffe', but looking back to his days as a destitue actor we see the origins of the plot; a socially ambitious nouveau riche, M Jourdain, wishes to learn to act in order to impress a certain young lady of high rank, so Moliere is rescued from debtors' prison, and, as Jourdain is married, given a job in his household disguised as a priest. So begins this clever and witty populist satire on period manners, court flummery, romantic entanglement, mimicry, identity and self-delusion.