Molière in Moscow: A New ‘Imaginary Invalid’
The following piece was published in the program for the University of Idaho’s 2023 production of Oded Gross, Tracy Young, and Paul James Prendergast’s adaptation of The Imaginary Invalid (directed by David Lee-Painter; March 3rd to 12th, 2023, Moscow, ID).
The Imaginary Invalid was the final play by the legendary French writer Molière. In its premiere production in February 1673, the playwright, who was also playing the lead role of Argan while suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, collapsed during the play’s fourth performance. He died later that day at 51 years old. There’s something morbidly ironic in an actor passing away mid-production while playing that particular role, a man comically convinced he’s suffering from any and every illness possible. That the actor in question was the play’s author makes it almost sound like an urban legend. In the centuries since, Molière has gone on to be considered one of the greatest writers in the French language and the creator of modern French comedy.
A mainstay of the French stage in the 17th century, Molière acted, produced, and wrote in many genres, including tragedies, but his signature genre was comedy, especially those with a farcical tone and satirical edge. Most of these plays, including The Imaginary Invalid, would showcase how people in power are corruptible and capable of using their station as a means of inflicting harm on others. He was known for punching up, and he was no stranger to controversy: his most enduring play, Tartuffe, was faced with such immediate backlash from the clergy that the play was banned from performance for five years.
Molière’s plays are translated, studied, performed, and adapted all over the world, from literature classes to educational and professional theatre companies. His work lives on — including at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which produced this adaptation of The Imaginary Invalid in 2011. Adapted by playwright Oded Gross, director Tracy Young, and composer Paul James Prendergast, this new retelling maintains the original play’s bite and over-the-top tone while updating the language and transposing the setting in the 1960s. And in keeping with the original play’s incorporation of music and dance (in a genre known as comédie-ballet), this Imaginary Invalid has a slew of original songs to move the plot along.
Gross, Young, and Prendergast’s Imaginary Invalid was warmly received in 2011, with reviewers calling it “goofy” and “surprisingly bittersweet.” An awful lot has happened since then, including three dramatic presidential elections and a pandemic — how does this play speak to us now, over a decade later? For one thing, our cultural relationship to illness has changed since the start of the COVID outbreak. According to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey, 26% of Americans surveyed say that protecting and prioritizing their health has become more important since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, according to a 2022 Ribbon Health survey, 62% of Americans surveyed say that they do not trust their healthcare plans. We generally seem to be growing more sensitive to our wellbeing while growing increasingly more skeptical of the powers that be — not too different from Argan, the imaginary invalid himself.
It’s also safe to say that, after the last couple of years, we could all really use a good laugh. The Imaginary Invalid is an extremely goofy play adapted from a much older extremely goofy play: this story has been making audiences laugh for about 350 years now. Don’t mistake escapism and comedy for a lack of a point, though. As playwright C. Meaker noted in their review of the 2011 OSF production, this play does deal with class and social hierarchies like Molière did, but more than that, it “instead focuses on how to live life.” Life is a beautiful thing, even with its hardships. It’s a cliché, but there may be something to it: regardless of what ails you, laughter may just be the best medicine.
— Elliott Folds, dramaturg
Works cited:
“The Inspiring Life and Work of Molière.” La Comédie-Française.
Meaker, C. “Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Imaginary Invalid.” 14 September 2011.
Ribbon Health. “New Study Reveals 62% of Americans Don’t Trust Their Health Plan to Provide Accurate Care Options.” PR Newswire, 13 December 2022.
Sharpe, Maddie and Alison Spencer. “Many Americans say they have shifted their priorities around health and social activities during COVID-19.” Pew Research Center, 18 August 2022.
