October 12, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

This ‘Invalid’ as entertaining as it is imaginary
by CLARK GROOME

You want smart and funny? Try Molière. How about classical and hip? Again, try Molière, specifically the People’s Light and Theatre Company production ofThe Imaginary Invalid.

Like all of Molière’s great plays, The Imaginary Invalid combines insight and high comedy to reveal man’s foibles and uncover his ultimate humanity.

In this case Argan (Stephen Novelli) imagines himself a very sick man. Can you say “hypochondriac,” boys and girls? He lives on a regimen of 17th century potions, enemas and purgatives.

As the head of his household, he has arranged a marriage for his daughter, Angelique (Joanna Liao). Alas, she has fallen for Cléante (Jud Williford), not the man daddy has in mind.

That’s young Thomas Diafoirus (Benjamin Lloyd), a certifiable idiot whose father (Tom Teti) is a doctor. Thomas himself will soon be practicing medicine. Having a doc as a son-in-law is a pretty attractive idea for a man whose life is controlled by his various concerns about his lower intestinal track’s functioning, or lack thereof.

Well. All does not go as Argan wants. The story is complicated by his new wife (Kathryn Petersen), the maid (Mary Elizabeth Scallen), another daughter (Benjamin Lloyd) and a whole host of others, most notably Argan’s brother Beralde (Peter DeLaurier).

It all, of course, ends happily. What makes this play, and this production, so entertaining is the nature of the journey to get to that happy ending.

Molière has been translated by many fine artists, most notably Richard Wilbur, whose rhymed couplets make his renderings of the French in English as elegant and witty as the original.

Less well known but equally impressive is James Magruder, whose adaptation and translation of The Imaginary Invalid, the version playing at People’s Light through October 22, turns the 17th century play into a 21st century romp.

It is true to the original yet seems as though it were written yesterday. There are hip references to today’s medical profession and even to Molière himself, yet it never goes overboard. The translation is a wonderful vehicle for the actors who, with one slight exception, make director Lillian Groag’s production soar.

Stephen Novelli is a wonderful Argan, a hypochondriacal fussbudget who has a real heart inside his seemingly inflexible view of a father’s control of his daughters’ destiny.

Joanna Liao’s Angelique, Kathryn Petersen’s Beline. Peter DeLaurier’s Beralde, Jud Williford’s Cléante and, especially, Benjamin Lloyd’s Thomas, are simply terrific. Lloyd is, in fact, wonderful in all the roles he limns.

Initially I was put off by the shrillness of Mary Elizabeth Scallen’s Toinette, the maid. As the evening went on, she either pulled back or settled in and added another positive element to the fine ensemble.

Groag’s production gets off to a somewhat hokey start but then finds its way and succeeds in telling the story, illuminating the characters and entertaining the customers.

The fine physical production was designed by Donald Eastman (set), Marla J. Jurglanis (costumes), Nancy Schertler (lighting) and Charles T. Brastow (the excellent sound).

Molière is my favorite pre-20th century playwright. People’s Light’s excellent production of The Imaginary Invalid gives reinforcement to that view. It shows again what a brilliant writer Molière was and how his combination of wit and wisdom when in the right hands (as it is with Magruder’s translation and People’s Light’s production) can be both entertaining and affecting.

For tickets to the People’s Light and Theatre Company’s production of The Imaginary Invalid, which runs through October 22, cal 610-644-3500 or visit peopleslight.org.