Group Play - The Imaginary Invalid (Fall '14)

[Leslie]

Our group play for the autumn season is a comedy by Molière - The Imaginary Invalid or to give it its original (French) title, Le Malade imaginaire.

Project Gutenberg has this ebook in English here, but there is also a copy in Greek (not in French though which seems surprising)! It is also contained in some collections such as Nine Moliere Comedies in Fresh English: Volume III

[Greg]

Looking forward to this one Leslie!

[Jenny]

Me too!

[LauraT]

I saw it at theatre when kid. I'll look if I can find the text

[Gail]

I'd like to read this - I read 'Le Misanthrope' years ago, as a set text when I studied French, and enjoyed it.

It looks like you can get the complete works of Molière in French on Project Gutenberg, in two volumes, so it should be in there somewhere. However, I can't access Project Gutenberg today - I downloaded quite a few books yesterday, and apparently if you exceed their daily download limit, they block you for 24 hours. I never knew they had a daily limit!

[Leslie]

I read the Project Gutenberg English translation yesterday -- I didn't know that they had a daily limit Gail! Anyway, this is a prose translation with quite large font (for those of you with vision issues this might be a good thing). While I missed the rhyming couplets that I associate with Molière, I didn't have any trouble with this translation.

There is a full cast audiobook recording (in English) available for free from Librivox at:
https://librivox.org/the-imaginary-in...

Some background info:
   This is Molière's last play, written while he was gravely ill with tuberculosis. Despite this illness, he acted the main part of the hypochondriac Argan in the play's first production. Unfortunately, he suffered from a hemorrhage caused by a coughing fit on stage. He finished the performance but died a few hours later.

[[deleted user]]

I appreciate the background, Leslie.

[amber]

I listened to the play in link provided. Thanks Leslie!
I think TII might have faired better if I hadn't just seen Tartuffe last year which had a lot of the same parts put together in a more interesting way.

[Leslie]

amber wrote: "I listened to the play in link provided. Thanks Leslie!
I think TII might have faired better if I hadn't just seen Tartuffe last year which had a lot of the same parts put together in..."

Yes, Tartuffe is definitely better.

[Barbara]

This is my favorite of Moliere's work. The genius is in the comic timing of the dialogue. I'm not sure it can be fully appreciated in a reading. I saw it at the Commedie Francais and not understanding a word of French laughed all the way through. The comedy ballet at the end is another element that you must see to fully appreciate. Will be interested in reading other reader's comments. Written in prose rather than verse I'm not sure it can be fairly compared in just a reading to Tartuffe and others.

[Tweedledum]

Hello, I have decided to join you in reading this, a little late in the day. I am completely new to Moliere and having just downloaded it free from project Gutenberg am already loving it. I wish I knew more about the history of the theatre but you can certainly see the development of farce in this from the little incidents in Shakespeare or earlier in the miracle plays. Was Moliere the first playwright to do this on a more sustained level?

[Leslie]

Tweedledum wrote: "Hello, I have decided to join you in reading this, a little late in the day. I am completely new to Moliere and having just downloaded it free from project Gutenberg am already loving it. I wish I ..."

Not late at all! This play group read goes until December so you are in plenty of time.

As for the historical question, I don't know whether Molière was the first to write this style of satire but I doubt it. I'll look into it when I have some time & report back.

[Tweedledum]

I have just finished this spurred on by the October Readathon.... What a treat. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I was able to appreciate of the Latin song at the end dragging up some memories of Latin from long ago and really would like to see a stage version now.

[LauraT]

I've found it at home: in an old edition of my grand father with the pages not yet divided - it's a collection of Moliere's plays; clearly my grand father read only The Misanthrope!
I'll start it in a couple of days

[Leslie]

So here is a link to the online Encyclopedia Britannica's article about Molière. In the introduction, it is mentioned that he did create a new form of comedy:

"Comedy had a long history before Molière, who employed most of its traditional forms, but he succeeded in inventing a new style that was based on a double vision of normal and abnormal seen in relation to each other—the comedy of the true opposed to the specious, the intelligent seen alongside the pedantic."

[Tweedledum]

Great thanks! I have just been to see She Stoops to Conquer at the West Yorkshire Playhouse tonight. What a treat. In a similar vein to Moliere. I must compare dates.

[Leslie]

Tweedledum wrote: "Great thanks! I have just been to see She Stoops to Conquer at the West Yorkshire Playhouse tonight. What a treat. In a similar vein to Moliere. I must compare dates."

I love She Stoops to Conquer!! I recently reread it by listening to a full cast audiobook done by a L.A. theater group, which was excellent.

[Gail]

She Stoops to Conquer is fantastic - we studied it for A level English, although never went to see it on stage, unfortunately.

[Greg]

That full cast audiobook sounds good Leslie - I think I'll hunt that down when I have time.

[LauraT]

I've finally started it and I'm half way through; liking how everybody is making fun of the "invalid"

[Leslie]

I do think that it is strange that the title of this isn't "The Hypochondriac"... after all, Argan clearly is one!

[Leslie]

Greg wrote: "That full cast audiobook sounds good Leslie - I think I'll hunt that down when I have time."

Here is a link to a review of that recording which gives more info...

[Greg]

Thanks Leslie!

[LauraT]

Leslie wrote: "I do think that it is strange that the title of this isn't "The Hypochondriac"... after all, Argan clearly is one!"

In Italian the title is "Il malato immaginario" which means the Hypochondriac!

[Leslie]

I have always assumed that the French title "Le Malade Imaginaire" also means hypochondriac so I wonder why the English title is "The Imaginary Invalid"...

[LauraT]

I wanted to ask: how do you judge the three "intermezzi" - I don't know how they were called in the english version; something like "inbetween".
I found them totally out of the play ...

[Greg]

I am curious about the interludes or intermissions too Laura. Does anyone know - when this play is performed, is the moorish dance performed during the second intermission?

I wish my translation had an English version of the third interlude. As I don't speak Latin, I couldn't make any sense of it. :)

I agree Laura, the interludes seem very different both in manner and matter from the rest of the play.

[LauraT]

They were all in italian in my version

[Leslie]

Greg wrote: "I am curious about the interludes or intermissions too Laura. Does anyone know - when this play is performed, is the moorish dance performed during the second intermission?

I wish my translation h..."

I found that non-translated interlude really broke the mood for me as my attention drifted away quite rapidly!

Looking back, I think that the interludes were a big part of why this was only 3 stars for me (compared to many of his other plays which I have rated 4 or 5 stars).

[Greg]

Moliere doesn't have a high opinion of the doctoring profession! From the common doctoring practices of his time, I gather that was with good reason. One of the funniest lines for me delivered to the physician:

"You must have killed many people to get so rich"

Thank goodness we have better remedies now than bloodletting and balancing of humors!

[Leslie]

I had to keep reminding myself that at this time in history, most doctors did what the patient told them to! Doctors were not "in charge" the way they are now but were more like lawyers -- gave advice but ultimately the client decided what to do.

This didn't begin to change until the 1800s so I guess Moliere had good reason for his bad opinion (especially since he was dying at the time)!

[Greg]

Leslie, maybe if the moorish dance is meant to be going on during the intermission it would be less distracting performed than it is read? Just an extra song that's going on while everyone takes their bathroom and drink breaks? Very rare, but I have seen a couple plays that did things like that. It felt quite odd to me - so weird to see people doing things on stage with all the lights up, though in those instances (as it would be if done in this one), the people doing the intermission show were not part of the main cast.

Curious if anyone who's actually seen this performed can comment on how the production they saw handled these weird interludes.

[LauraT]

Leslie wrote: "I had to keep reminding myself that at this time in history, most doctors did what the patient told them to! Doctors were not "in charge" the way they are now but were more like lawyers -- gave ad..."

I'm afraid they getting back there now, at least in Italy. After these last twenty years where doctors were sued for all mistakes, they tend not to take a final decision, but "simply" to suggest possible solutions. I remember when I was during my first delivery my gyecologyst - who was also a friend of my family - started saying that maybe it would have been better for me and the baby to have a Cesarina cut. I started yelling at him telling to decide what was for the best. I don't know thogh id I'd done it without the confidence I HAD WITH HIM ...