STAGE

Monique Barbaroux was named the new director general of the Comedie Francaise, the prestigious national theater of France, Jack Lang, France’s Minister of Culture, announced Monday. Barbaroux, who had been responsible for music and theater administration in the Ministry of Culture, will direct both the main theater, located between the Palais Royal and the Louvre, and the Odeon on the Left Bank. The Comedie Francaise, founded by Moliere in the 17th Century during the reign of Louis XIV, traditionally has been bound to strict interpretations of French classics by playwrights such as Racine, Beaumarchais and Moliere, but in recent years the company has loosened up and tackled the works of several 20th-Century authors including Pirandello, Claudel and Anouilh.