'The Imaginary Invalid' Broadway review — Bill Irwin

Read our review of The Imaginary Invalid on Broadway, a new revival of Molière's classic comedy adapted by and starring Bill Irwin at the Todd Haimes Theatre.

Summary

• The Imaginary Invalid is about a dim-witted hypochondriac who wants his daughter to marry a doctor
• This Broadway revival of Molière’s 17th-century satire is adapted by Bill Irwin, who also stars
• Hiram Delgado and Crystal A. Dickinson are the standouts among the ensemble of the production, which could use more specificity in the characters and humor
• The show is recommended for fans of Molière and of the production's stars, Bill Irwin (The Odyssey) and Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
• The play runs 90 minutes with no intermission

It’s been just over a year since the excellent Red Bull Theater production of The Imaginary Invalid at New World Stages, and it is hard to believe that the already potent Molière farce would have become even more relevant. Between last June and now, when Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival is playing at the Todd Haimes Theatre, looksmaxxing has generated a cascade of think pieces, peptides have become all the rage, and every food and beverage brand is touting protein-pumped products. And though this new production, adapted by Bill Irwin and directed by Brandon J. Dirden, makes passing references to AI and wellness culture, the 90-minute show emerges as dull as a medical waiting room.

With few exceptions, the ensemble remain cardboard archetypes from the 17th century — the dimwitted father (Irwin), the virtuous daughter (Ava Lalezarzadeh), the huckster doctor (Brooks Ashmanskas), the sardonic servant (Rachel Bloom), the noble boyfriend (Daniel Croix Handerson) – despite contemporary line readings and dialogue. Irwin lowers his voice and bellows his lines, but neither this choice nor his adaptation overall reveal Argan as more than a general hypochondriac. Even in his ridiculousness, Argan is given little humanity as a particular kind of anxious mark for the conning "doctors" who claim to treat him.

The rest of the cast doesn’t fare much better, occasionally making random noises or vocal inflections (is Bloom’s Toinette, at one point disguised in eyebrow glasses, supposed to be Irish or French or Slavic or German?) or simply shouting toward the audience for emphasis (both Ashmanskas and Henderson do this). But these affectations feel vague, as if these intermittent, over-the-top bursts were the primary thing holding the production together. Those, and the ornate costumes by Karen Perry: Silky, baroque, eye catching, they're able to both situate the characters in the period and add a bit of bespoke flair where specificity is lacking elsewhere in the production.

Only Hiram Delgado and Crystal A. Dickinson successfully make unique marks with their performances. Delgado is truly and charmingly weird as Thomas, a a doctor's son with a haunting bowl cut, and Dickinson adds electricity with every entrance and finger point as Argan’s duplicitous wife, Beline. Ashmanskas also has a good, but too brief, scene as Dr. Purgon, whom he plays as deranged and dandyish, drawn-on mustache and all.

Otherwise, there’s a basic lack of urgency or energy on stage. The ensemble ambles around in search of its contemporary parallels, forgetting to animate the moment the characters are already in. Despite its relevance and potential for loony chaos, this Invalid, much like its protagonist, might need a second opinion.

The Imaginary Invalid summary

In Molière’s mid-17th century satire The Imaginary Invalid, the wealthy and aristocratic Argan is constantly being conned by doctors, leading him to an agoraphobic, hypochondriac lifestyle to the concern of his family. Meanwhile, his wife is scheming for his fortune and advises that his daughter Angelique be shipped off to a convent, while Argan wants Angelique to marry the son of a fraudulent physician, even though she loves poor but honest Cleante.

This Broadway revival features an adapted script by Bill Irwin, who also stars as Argan.

What to expect at The Imaginary Invalid

Let's return to Perry’s costume work, which offers a shimmering balance of accurate and imaginative. Cleante wears a handsome baby-blue ensemble with puffy culottes; Beline glides around in a gorgeous black, red, and grey embroidered silk dress with tight bodice and voluminous petticoat; and Purgon wears an entrancing black-and-white, swirl-patterned justaucorps with pantaloons.

Beowulf Boritt’s forced-perspective scenic design, pulled down with red ribbon by the cast in black robes at the beginning of the show, is also fun and beautifully detailed to resemble French interior design from the Louis XVI era, with its floral embossed moldings and floating cherubs on the ceiling.

The Imaginary Invalid runs 90 minutes with no intermission.

What audiences are saying about The Imaginary Invalid

Early audience reviews of The Imaginary Invalid have been mixed to positive, averaging out to an 83% approval rating on Show-Score as of writing. Theatregoers on the review-aggregating forum have praised the performances, design, and lasting appeal of the piece, with others offering mixed takes on the pacing and comedy.

• “Still relevant 400 years later.” – Show-Score user Rebecca 7361
• “The show was funny but the show felt like it was missing something.” – Show-Score user Briana Sapini
• “For as much as I love Bill Irwin, this show didn’t allow him to show off his clowning skills as much as I expected. The cast is game, and the direction is smart in moments, but dill in others. For a 90-minute show, there’s a lot of dead air that could be extracted.” – Show-Score user Ashowgoer

Read more audience reviews of The Imaginary Invalid on Show-Score.

Who should see The Imaginary Invalid

• Fans of Bill Irwin’s recent performance as the Cyclops in Christoper Nolan’s epic The Odyssey will want to see his stage skills.
• Fans of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend will enjoy the chance to see creator and star Rachel Bloom clown around live in her Broadway debut.
• Lovers of Molière should see how this show compares to the various productions of the French satirist’s work on New York’s theatre scene in the last year.

Learn more about The Imaginary Invalid on Broadway

Seemingly unable to diagnose The Imaginary Invalid's specificity, this Broadway revival is so broad and its humor so fuzzy that it rarely tickles the funny bone.

Learn more and get The Imaginary Invalid tickets on New York Theatre Guide. The Imaginary Invalid is at the Todd Haimes Theatre through November 22.

Photo credit: The Imaginary Invalid on Broadway. (Photos by Joan Marcus)