A great classic, as well as one of the most successful texts by Molière (1622-1673), The Imaginary Invalid, is on stage at the Sala Umberto Theater, directed by Andrea Chiodi.
The comedy, in Andrea Chiodi's reinterpretation, is dreamlike and irreverent, funny and contemporary, portraying the family affairs of the hypochondriac Argante, surrounded by inept doctors and crafty pharmacists, only too happy to fuel his anxieties for their own personal gain. Like the miserly Harpagon, Argante is a victim of himself and a puppet of those around him, a prisoner of his own fear, or rather, a true obsession – hypochondria -which in this new version of Molière's masterpiece becomes the true protagonist.
The Imaginary Invalid (Le Malade imaginaire) is a Comédie-ballet in three acts, followed by three interludes. The play was first performed at the Palais-Royal in 1673 by the "Troupe du Roy", with music by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and choreography by Pierre Beauchamp. Written in the last year of Molière's life, the work is imbued with realism. The protagonist, in fact, displays a cynicism and disillusionment that reveal the author's bitter reflections, who introduces, within the comic situations of the plot, a denunciation of the society of his time. The comedy, like other masterpieces by Molière, including The Misanthrope (1666) and The Miser (1668), while retaining some of the tradition of the Commedia dell'Arte, presents innovative aspects such as the presence of a script and the absence of masks - or fixed characters - in favor of characters with individual physical and psychological characteristics.
Produced by the Brescia Theater Centre in co-production with LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura, Viola Produzioni – Theater Production Centre.
With Angelo Di Genio, Emanuele Arrigazzi, Alessia Spinelli, Nicola Ciaffoni, Emilia Tiburzi, and Ottavia Sanfilippo.
Photo: official poster of the show
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