THE HYPOCHONDRIAC - AUSTRALIAN REVIEW

by Murray Bramwell

Laughter may be the best medicine, but in the case of Moliere's The Hypochondriac, you would have to say that medicine is the best laughter. Also known as The Imaginary Invalid, this pungent comedy from 1673 takes aim at those quacks, charlatans and medical phonies who, with their potions, promises, irrigations and evacuations, prey on gullible men like Argan, the hypochondriac at the centre of Brink Productions' hilarious and adroitly managed production.

Using a free-wheeling but faithful adaptation by Melbourne playwright Paul Galloway, Brink director Chris Drummond and the cast reveal the wit and timelessness of this classic comedy.

Moliere drew heavily on commedia dell'arte devices - such as disguise, entrapment and feigned death - and these feature strongly in this knockabout production. There are also plenty of slopping chamber pots, posterior procedures and arias of flatulence to remind us of the possibilities of gastroenterological comedy.

But the satire on bogus jargon, unscrupulous operators and the desperate and ever-present human fear of mortality is also wittily apparent.

Designer Wendy Todd has covered the walls of the Space stage with crushed satin drapery to match period-style costumes in fawns, taupes and mushroom shades, all inventively lit by Geoff Cobham. The decor consists simply of chairs, a harpsichord and other keyboards for droll onstage performances by musician and composer Stuart Day.

The performances are broad but full of delicious detail and are expertly timed. As the dutiful daughter, Angelique, and her true suitor, Cleante, Emily Branford and Nathan O'Keefe bring laughs to the zany music-lesson scene and zip to the romance. The lanky O'Keefe is also wonderfully deadpan as the younger sister, Louison.

As Dr Diaforus senior, Edwin Hodgeman is hypnotically absurd, and as his gormless son (and a ferrety lawyer) Rory Walker is well-matched. Carmel Johnson is regal and duplicitous as the grasping wife, Beline, Terence Crawford just right as Beralde - Moliere's straight man - and Jacqy Phillips is terrific as the strong-minded servant Toinette.

Anchoring all these contributions is Paul Blackwell as Argan. Whether slumped on his commode counting his money, berating Toinette or whining at his doctors, he is excellent. His comic range is exceptional, and he never forgets the forgivable human frailty of the character. In the finale, as he beams with pride at his own mock graduation as a doctor, this Hypochondriac looks very well indeed.