Moliere was a famous French playwright of the 17th century who wrote about 30 plays during his 14 years in Paris. They dealt with the hypocrisy of the society he inhabited and were full of smart dialogue and as well as slapstick jokes. Most famous among those plays were “Tartuffe, The Miser, The Misanthrope, The Bourgeois Gentleman, and The Imaginary Invalid.” When I heard that Quintessence was doing a play by Moliere called “The Hypochondriac,” I discovered that it was a modern translation of “The Imaginary Invalid.” And this production is the world premier of still a new translation by Sir Ranjit Bolt.
Argan is a man who is convinced that he is sickly and seeks treatment from anyone and everyone, including medical quacks and charlatans giving him bad information. He even seeks to marry his daughter, Angelique, to a young physician who is the son of a physician, in the hope of getting daily medical care. But Angelique is in love with another man, Cleante.
Then there is Argan’s maid, Toinette, who recognizes the absurdity of her employer’s maladies, but tries to humor him, even though he is constantly calling her vulgar names. She also tries to convince Argan that the doctor’s son is not a good match for Angelique. Toinette recognizes the selfish motives of Argan’s wife Beline, Angelique’s stepmother, in her greedy attempts to obtain all the money she can from him. Beline seeks to convince Argan to send his daughter to a convent to remove her from the scene, a threat that he makes to his daughter repeatedly, if she will not marry the man of his choice. When Argan’s brother Beralde arrives, Toinette and Angelique enlist him to convince Argan to let his daughter marry the man she chooses.
Amidst all the chaos, there are the “medical” issues facing Argan. I put it in quotes because few believe he is ill. Beralde thinks his brother is the healthiest man alive. But Argan has doctors and an apothecary constantly supporting the false facts that he is sick to their own advantage. They have him taking all sorts of drugs and receiving enemas almost every day. And he is constantly farting in people’s faces. Beline, clearly a trophy wife who is constantly pushing her breasts in her husband’s face, acts as though she supports him, but is only there for the inheritance she hopes to receive.
Moliere hated doctors! He thought them to be little more than scammers who knew nothing about health, and he ridicules the medical profession, arguing that the only thing they did know was the Latin words for things. Actually, Moliere portrayed Argan in a few opening performances before he collapsed on stage and died soon after. I now understand a shift in the roles that occurred in this new version which will leave you baffled if you don’t read the director’s notes in the program.
Last week, I criticized the casting of a woman playing Don Quixote in a production of “Man Of La Mancha,” for not portraying the qualities of the man. Ironically, a woman (Eleni Delopoulos), portrayed Argan in this show. She was more effective in the role than Jered McLenigan, who played Argan in the second act with an accent that was often hard to understand.
Ranjit Bolt, a playwright himself, has translated dozens of plays into English. He also admits that he paraphrases often to make them more contemporary and funnier. But then, any translation is subject to the choice of words of the translator. I think Bolt took some serious liberties in translating Moliere’s play.
In “The Hypochondriac,” Director Trey Lyford has added the character of King Louis, who sits on a throne in the audience, interrupting the action at times. The setting is beside the pool of a tropical resort-like locale today. The interludes, an essential part of Moliere plays, are colorful song and dance numbers that Lyford has recreated.
I read Moliere plays when I was in college and thoroughly enjoyed them. I’m not certain as to why I didn’t enjoy this production as much. I’m not sure if it was the translation or the director’s choices, but I didn’t find that Moliere’s play captured my attention as I remember it I think it was the way they let go of the underlying meaning of the issues that seemed to become secondary to the broad comedic sketches. The acting quality of this ensemble was mixed. Rather than point out those actors who I didn’t care for, let me say that I especially liked Hannah Gaffney as the conniving wife, Tanara Colem as the maid, and Christopher Patrick Mullen in two roles. It’s one of those plays where I suggest that theater goers check it out with others who may have seen it, since there were many in the audience who WERE laughing.
“‘The Hypochondriac” by Moliere and translated by Sir Ranjit Bolt at Quintessence Theatre, 7137 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19119, 215-987-4450, quintessencetheatre.org Thru May 19, 2026
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 