By Ron Fassler . . .
Satirical comedy has been around a long time (Plautus, anybody?) which often means contemporizing Golden Oldies is essential so we can be in on the jokes. Of late, playwright Jeffrey Hatcher has been responsible for a series of sterling adaptations for Red Bull Theater of such classics as Gogol’s Government Inspector, written in 1836, and Ben Johnson’s The Alchemist, dating back to 1610. Together with the company’s Founder and Artistic Director, Jesse Berger, the pair have united once again for Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, a French farce written in 1673 and here having a World Premiere based on a new translation by Mirabelle Ordinaire. Back in the day, Molière created the role of the perversely hypochondriacal Argan for himself and, in an ironic twist, died hours after the curtain came down on a night that he had tremendous difficulty getting through. At first conceived as something of a comic extravaganza with music and ballet, the play doesn’t get performed a great deal anymore, so it’s commendable that Red Bull has attacked it with comic gusto. It’s also been streamlined to a frenetic 80-minute running time and, as played by an octet of skilled actors, makes for a flippant theatrical treat.
The role of Argan is a juicy one. A wealthy, self-indulgent, deluded old windbag, he envisions himself constantly at death’s door from a variety of ailments. In Hatcher’s adaptation, he is particularly worried about his buttocks and anything and everything to do with that particular region. The subject of enemas is brought up more than at a proctologist’s office, so if you find all that riotous, you will be in your element. Argan has a daughter, Angélique, who is in love with Cleante, a young man of no considerable means. This won’t do for Argan, as he is determined to marry her to a doctor, mainly so that his healthcare will be free forever forward. There’s Moliere’s stock character of a saucy maid, Toinette, as well as Béline, wicked stepmother to Angélique, who is fooling around with De Bonnefoi, a lawyer, behind Argan’s back. A series of doctors (who in this production are all played by the splendid Arnie Burton) pop in and out of the action, along with Thomas, a son of one of the doctor’s, who Argan hopes to fiancé to Angélique, as he’s about to become a physician himself. All the action is played out in the central room where Argan has his sickbed and the requisite doors are embedded in the unit set for a great deal of slamming (with two framed portraits that can pop open as well), adorably designed by the always dependable Beowulf Boritt. Mextly Couzin’s appropriate bright lighting, essential to farce, is also well done.
The use of its natural period setting doesn’t deter Hatcher from wittily working in several references to modern conveniences such as recycling and working from home. He also pays tribute to the tendency for musicals of the 21st century to break the fourth wall, giving us lines like “Monsieur Argan, can I see you centerstage?” Extreme behavior is taken to extremes in the genuinely hilarious writing for Cléante (John Yi), a true dimwit, and the character of the doctor’s son, as embodied with great conviction and outrageous comedy by Russell Daniels, a sort of cartoon Baby Huey come to life. However, like a television sitcom, there’s the tendency to try for too many laughs on a single page, the result of which is only about fifty percent of the jokes really land.
Jesse Berger’s direction is sure-fire, and all the performances are good, though Mark Linn-Baker’s Argan could have been a bit more menacing to my taste. Known for a certain cuddliness, he misses the tyrant at the center of the character, which makes it feel like a missed opportunity to provide more tension to heighten the stakes. Emilie Kouatchou is charmingly vivacious as Angélique and Sarah Stiles makes a meal of the randy Toinette’s unflappability. When she’s called upon to sing, she fills the small New World Stage with her large voice. Emily Swallow’s aggressively gold-digging wife scores numerous laughs and looks wonderful in the costumes that Tilly Grimes has dressed the cast so well in. There’s welcome and appealing larceny from Manoel Felciano’s conniving lawyer who has an unbridled lust for his mistress and finally, as mentioned earlier, there’s Arnie Burton. He plays a trio of roles here with the same brilliance and wacky abandon that he brought to the more than 100 characters he portrayed in 39 Steps (2008), and the two parts he essayed in Hatcher’s Government Inspector for Red Bull in 2017. For years, audiences have gotten use to having to double and triple check their Playbill whenever Burton is in a play or musical.
So, for ridiculous fun, and at a fraction of what it costs to snag a ticket for Oh, Mary!, the silly charms of The Imaginary Invalid may just be what the doctor ordered.
The Imaginary Invalid is playing now through June 29 at New World Stages, 354 W 50th Street, NYC. For ticket information, please visit: https://www.redbulltheater.com/the-imaginary-invalid-off-broadway.
Photos by Carol Rosegg.
Headline photo: Russell Daniels, Arnie Burton, John Yi, Emilie Kouatchou, Emily Swallow, Sarah Stiles, Manoel Felciano and Mark Linn-Baker center in The Imaginary Invalid.