9/27/26: The Imaginary Invalid
What: Roundabout revives Moliere's classic with a new adaptation by Bill Irwin (who also stars as the titular invalid). Argan believes he is perpetually ill, not realizing he is being bilked by his doctor. Desperate to get a doctor into the family, he tries to marry his daughter off, but she's already in love with someone else. Machinations, costume changes, and a happy ending for most!
And? A lot of fun. I'll admit to missing the rhyming couplets I'm used to for Moliere adaptations, but it's still very clever, and Bill Irwin is brilliant. Also making a good show for themselves are Rachel Bloom as wily servant Toinette, Dylan Baker as Argan's brother Beralde, Crystal A. Dickinson as Argan's melodramatic wife Beline, and the always scene-stealing Brooks Ashmanskas as both Drs Diafoirus and Purgon. The production might be worth it for the opening sequence alone, which is beautiful and well-crafted, bringing us from the world of masked comedy to today: though the costumes and setting remain "period," the dialogue is committed to contemporary inflection. We unfortunately had a snafu at our performance with a disruptive audience member, which led to them holding the show for about a half hour while it was resolved, but Irwin had an excellent sense of humor about it, nodding subtly to it the rest of the performance.
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