Writer: Molière
Adapter: Roger McGough
Director: Sarah Tipple
It has been a while since Sheffield audiences were treated to a piece of lavish period drama. Something light and fun to warm us from the rainy October skies. Sheffield has found the cure in this new production of The Hypochondriac by Molière. Both mesmerizing in its design and boundless in its comedic energy.
Many will be familiar with this classic piece of French farce, first performed in 1673, and also will be familiar with Roger McGough’s 2009 translation. Argan is a committed hypochondriac. Flitting from humour to humour trying to find the next devastating blow to his health, he is addicted to being unwell and to the counsel of the imperious doctors he so admires. His obsession and dwindling funds (having spent so much on his wellness) drive him to the logical conclusion that the best thing for him to do is to marry his only daughter off to a doctor’s son, himself a doctor, so that he can keep it in the family and be forever doted upon and assured that he is indeed facing the gravest of ills. Of course, his daughter Angélique has her own life to lead and would much rather marry her heart’s desire than a dull doctor. Argan’s cunning maid Toinette and his devoted brother Béralde concoct a cunning plan to deal him a dose of tough love and help him see that those who are closest to him may not be there for the right reasons.
McGough, not satisfied with the momentous task of translating such a text, also chose to write his translation entirely in rhyming couplets. You may baulk at the idea of a two-and-a-half-hour play entirely in rhyme, but McGough and the performers find such elasticity in this structure. Often, a rhyming couplet can cause the audience to get ahead of the game and start predicting punchlines. Here the range of musicality in the text is such that one often forgets the linguistical scaffolding is there. Every performer is able to find humanity and comprehensible pacing that makes this poetic conceit seem as natural as modern text.
Designer Colin Richmond has explored every inch of stage available, the unusual shape of Sheffield’s thrust stage offering many vantage points. The bare bones of the set show what was once a beautiful library. Now, cascading with papers, tinctures, anatomical diagrams, books, furnishings and limitless ephemera, we see how Argan, once a powerful man has let his curiosity and paranoia overwhelm him. His once lavish rooms are deteriorating as he allows more influence to take hold of his wits and every scrap of medical information/misinformation is taken as gospel and prized in this prison of his own making.
The Crucible is one of few regional theatres still able to boast of having a fully kept and maintained costume department. Here, wardrobe supervisor Sally Wilson and her team are put through their paces with entirely new and unique costumes. It is always a treat to see full seventeenth-century fashion on display: with a Mediterranean colour scheme and exquisite detail, this production is rich in visual splendour.
An incredibly strong cast is led by Edward Hogg as Argan. He moves from frailty to spry vitality with such lightness, a real tour de force. We have to wait a while to be treated to father and son Doctor Diaforius and Thomas Diaforius, played by Chris Hannon and Garmon Rhys, but it is worth every second. Similarly, the young lovers Cléante and Angélique played by Zak Ghazi-Torbati and Saroja-Lily Ratnavel make it almost to the interval before bringing the house down with an improvised duet. The company seem to come from acting and musical training backgrounds. This leads to a production that is rich with musical interludes, more so than are normally seen in this adaptation. And with such an accomplished company, who can blame director Sarah Tipple for maximising this well of talent?
If you wanted to think about the parallels between this, over 400-year-old production and the present state of medical scepticism and a search for wellness there is much to ignite your curiosity. Although, if you just want to be delighted by a masterful and opulent piece of theatre, this is just what the doctor ordered.
Runs until 21st October 2023.
