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Continuing a short theatre spree, we went to see Molière’s Der eingebildete Kranke (Le malade imaginaire, The Imaginary Invalid) at ThOP today. Compared to yesterday’s Kontrakte des Kaufmanns it was a rather tame and joyful piece. It’s a comedy, it’s meant to be funny.
The stage was set up with a cool giant bed, housing the hypochondriac Argan who - rather appropriately for the role - gestured in the style of Louis de Funès. His young pretty wife is after his money, his daughter is in love with a guy who is not the doctor he’d like to have as a son-in-law and his housemaid is the only person taking him sort-of-seriously: there we have a little story and a bunch of entertainment.
From Candide, I remember Molière to be more cynical than this piece appeared to me, featuring ‘just’ the fact that most people are liars and that most doctors are quacks. As I haven’t read the book, I can only guess whether that’s a matter of the piece in question or one of the way they performed it.
“Candide” was written by Voltaire made cynical by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.
@Kristjan Kannike:
Thanks for pointing this out – embarrassing. Looks like I got my old French authors mixed up.
