Off-Broadway Revew: The Imaginary Invalid

The Farceur Will See You Now

Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher is at it again. After turning Gogol’s The Government Inspector into an hilarious, madcap romp, he’s now turned his sights on Molière with an equally buoyant reimagining of The Imaginary Invalid. The Red Bull Theater is making a specialty of these deliciously fractured revivals, and audiences are all the more entertained for it.

The original play from 1673 concerns Argan, a man plagued by all sorts of maladies and demanding medical treatment for each of them…from different doctors. Meanwhile, life outside the sick bed is spinning out of control as his new wife is scheming to get ahold of his fortune and his daughter is in love with a man not of dad’s choosing. As all this goes on, the servant Toinette is the only one with wit enough to see the insanity for what it is—and do what she can to protect her master. As he did with Gogol, Hatcher preserves the inherent comedy in the piece while sprinkling in contemporary references—all of which underscores that the human foolishness Molière so trenchantly observed remains unchanged.

Director Jesse Berger—who also directed The Government Inspector—knows a thing or nine about farce, and the rollicking production places the somewhat befuddled, and egotistical, Argan in the center of it all. Literally. A large barber chair/sick bed dominates the set, and all the action revolves around that, even as the chair itself revolves. There are two doors for requisite slamming, a hideaway for eavesdropping, and clearly plenty of backstage space for fast crosses so actors can disappear from one door and appear moments later at the other. The pace of the action only amplifies the comedy, which may leave you dizzy—and lightheaded from laughing.

Of course, a piece like this requires an adroit cast to pull it off, and this is a crew of accomplished farceurs. Mark Linn-Baker (known for Perfect Strangers and more recently Succession) plays Argan. He’s the butt (sometimes physically too) of the jokes, but despite Argan’s hypochondria, he is almost the calmest of the characters. Linn-Baker is an expert at timing, and he’s not above mugging when it serves the gags, which is fun.

Arnie Burton plays all three of the doctors treating Argan. Though Burton is a fine serious actor (his performance in The Temperamentals many years ago remains memorable), but his comedy is equally exceptional. His characterizations of the doctors are both broad and pointed, and in the best comic tradition, he knows how to milk a laugh to wonderful effect.

Emilie Koiatchou is the willful Angelique, determined to marry Cléante. Koiatchou bursts into song from time to time, which in addition to her sly comedy, is delightful. She was the first Black actress to play Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, so even when played for laughs, her singing is spectacular. John Yi plays Cleánte with swashbuckling fervor and just the right touch of befuddlement. Emily Swallow as Béline, the new conniving wife, in cahoots with Manoel Feliciano as DeBonnefoi (which roughly translates as “good and crazy”), are hilarious as their scheme spins out of control

Sarah Stiles, however, practically steals the show as the maid Toinette. The knowing, gimlet-eyed serving person is a staple of Molière’s comedy, and Stiles has just the right amount of acerbic observation and caring heart to make the character amusing and endearing. Of course, the dramatic function of this role is to pander to the audience to a degree, to let them know they’re smarter than the characters going through all the nonsense. It works, just has it has for 35o years.

Speaking of smart, however, the whole production is just that played against Beowulf Boritt’s set, which looks like a folding screen, and Tilly Grimes costumes that are a mash-up of classic and contemporary elements.

The whole undertaking is bright and amusing, a perfect diversion that asks no more than we join Molière and this company in making light of the foibles of humanity. We might as well; that’s not changing any time soon.

The Imaginary Invalid
Red Bull Theater at New World Stages
340 West 50th Street
Mon, Weds-Sat 7 p.m.; Sat, Sun 2 p.m. through June 29
$99 and up at Telecharge

Photos provided by the production Credit: Carol Rosegg
Posted June 13, 2025