The Hypochondriac by Molière

Adapted and Directed by Stephe Harrop

I saw Stephe Harrop’s adaptation of The Hypochondriac on the first night of its performance. The play had to be significantly shortened to fit into the one-hour slot (which it achieved to the minute!) allowed at the Fringe Festival in Edinburg where it will be playing for a week in August.

On the whole, it was a thoroughly enjoyable production bringing together dancing, singing, one-liners, “good old fashioned silliness” as well as some great performances. It was also a commendable achievement to curtail the play so significantly, include a lot of jokes intended for the particular audience that is likely to be watching, yet leaving me with a feeling that I was still watching a play by Molière.

Lisa Castle should be singled out from the cast; her performance was outstanding. Toinette’s role is of course a major one presenting her (and the director) with a great opportunity to “wink” at the audience and laugh with them at the ridiculousness of what is happening on stage. Lisa made the part her own, at times carrying the production single-handedly and filling the audience with anticipation each time she stepped on stage.

The play began and ended with a music and dance piece and there were a couple more interspersed. These could be improved; the background music was too quiet and basic to be enjoyed on its own and the quality of the dancing and singing varied a great deal amongst the cast. The ladies were dressed in sexy nurses’ uniforms, but it felt as if they were merely going through the motions of the choreography, and did not seem to feel comfortable. Natasha Wilcox was a notable exception, whose singing piece was soulful and enjoyable.

I very much enjoyed watching Phillip Piggott as Argan; the combination of his appearance in pajamas and his awkward movement resulted in some very funny scenes, such as his attempt to eat fruits and exercise more at the same time. I would, however, have liked him to use the fact that he is a hypochondriac a little bit more and play on the fact that his illnesses were psychosomatic. Natasha Wilcox was great as a really evil Lindy; her performance of the scene where she finds her husband dead was hilarious.

Stasia Buckle portrayed a cute and dumb Louisa and it was enjoyable to watch her act as well as dance. Frances Bushe was a whiny Angelica in love with a rather wet and slow Derek, played by Jignesh Radla. I felt that rather more could have been made of the two on stage and that their lines and jokes were too predictable. I loved Frances Fogel’s arrival on stage with the cracking of her knuckles, but I was left somewhat confused as to what sort of a character she was performing. She spoke with a posh accent in a measured way yet would often make head movements as seen from guests on Jerry Springer. During the funniest scene of the play, when Toinette dressed as a doctor was examining Argan, Frances was rather awkwardly left hanging around on stage with not much to say and nothing to do.

Gerard Kelly and Eddie Siow worked very well together. Gerard’s difficult medical monologue was well delivered, his final monster-ish turn-around was immaculately timed. Eddie was a believable awkward geek, timed his one-liners well and was very good in the patient presentation scene.

This very enjoyable production could have been further improved by working on the script a little longer. Some of the comedy written was hilarious; the pretend sword fighting scene, the split infinitive apology, or one-liners such as “you’re too common to have a pancreas” will always go down well; the play should be packed with moments of this type. This cast and production has the potential and should aim to leave the audience with a sore stomach from laughter by the end of the hour.

Dan Tivadar