March 4, 2015
Le Malade Imaginaire
March 4, 2015
Toronto’s AGBU Hosts Hay Pem’s
Brilliant Performance of Molière’s Le malade imaginaire
On a frigid February evening, the Hay Pem troupe of Montréal’s Tekeyan Armenian Cultural Association injected energy and warmth into the hearts and minds of a delighted Toronto audience with its brilliant presentation of Molière’s play Le malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid). Although this work has been performed many times and in many different forms since 1673, it seemed as fresh and as stimulating as if written yesterday thanks mostly to a talented and charismatic ensemble of actors and the superb adaptation and direction of the play by Ms. Nancy Issa Torosian.
Molière made an impact in the world of theatre when he created the comédie-ballet, an example of which was Le malade imaginaire. Dissatisfied with the fragmentary division of music and dance from the plays being performed at the time, he integrated music and dance as elements of the whole production. Torosian, following suit, begins the show with the splendid solo execution on the piano by Arden Arapyan, the composer of the original music of this play, followed by a dance of the company’s actors. Arapyan remains on stage to provide background music and even participates directly in some of the action. Torosian intersperses dance and music throughout the performance.
Torosian’s attention to detail, very much akin to Molière’s, is evidenced throughout this comedy, such as in the costumes and the hair style of the actors. This scrupulousness not only lends veracity but sets the tone and mood of the presentation. Artistic integrity and aesthetics, however, are not the only features of this luminous production.
Underneath the hilarious farce that ensues on stage, Molière unmasks the folly of human behaviour, foibles that still exist in today’s society such as greed, selfishness and hypocricy. We first meet with the egotistical hypochondriac Argan, who insists that his daughter marry a medical doctor so that there will be a permanent doctor in the family to take care of him. Hypocrisy is demonstrated by Argan‘s second wife when she pretends to care for him and is truly only concerned in inheriting his fortune. And of course, there is the pedantic foppish caricature of bad doctors who pander to the vanity of Argan.
The play paints a particularly satiric portrait of incompetent doctors possibly because persons close to Molière succumbed to their illnesses due to maltreatment by doctors. His mother passed away when Molière was ten years old. His son lost his life at the age of four and an actress who was one of the founders of his acting troupe died when she was 52. Molière himself had suffered from a debilitating cough for nearly a decade and never received appropriate medical care. He is said to have coughed blood on the stage while playing the role of Argan and died immediately after the play in 1673 at the age of 51.
Although the original auteur of Le malade imaginaire is Molière, the auteur of the meticulous Armenian production of this play is definitely Ms. Torosian. Faithful to Molière’s vision, she has nonetheless infused her sense of style in the work in such a manner that there is coherence in the performance from beginning to end where one scene flows seamlessly into the other. Above all it is extremely entertaining and wonderful theatre; a tonic for the spectators. Bravo Hay Pem!
isa basmajian