The Hypochondriac – 3rd October, Richmond Theatre.
Roger McGough’s contemporary adaptation of Molière’s seventeenth century comedy, set within the ornate surroundings of Richmond Theatre, showed the last of five consecutive London dates on Saturday.
Clive Francis plays Argan, an obsessive worrier plagued with the pursuit of employing an array of quacks and charlatans to cure his apparently ailing constitution. Prescribing a plethora of remedies, the physicians manipulate the old man into paying huge sums for their pills and potions. The plot centres on his selfish plan to marry his daughter Angelique off to the idiotic Thomas Diaforius, on the basis of his medical training.
Following on from the success of ‘Tartuffe’ last year (another reinterpretation of a Molière play), McGough’s brilliantly flowing script is full of rhythm and rhyme. Also, though not to everyone’s taste, it occasionally touches on the scatological as Argan’s belligerent bowels provide ample scope for various bouts of toilet humour, cleverly mixing the sophisticated with the salacious.
Angelique’s ill-suited suitor provides some of the plays most comic moments, especially since she has fallen in love with someone else. His tedious Grecian monologs, awkward movements and verbal misdemeanours ruin his chances and bewilder those around him. Conversely, Leanne Best is the articulate maid Toinette, who works to ensure Angelique is allowed to marry whom she chooses, and that Argan is not deceived by his wife’s greed. She provides a satirical edge to the musings of Thomas and is often instrumental in the movement of Molière’s fast paced plot.
The Hypochondriac brings together the best symptoms of a classic stage production, with McGough’s 21st century poetical wit; a concoction perfect for those who like their medicine mixed with laughter.
For details on the rest of the tour see http://www.ett.org.uk/Productions/2009/The_Hypochondriac/Tour.html.
