No Mean Company

The Hypochondriac

Written by Moliere

7 - 9 October 1999

Argan is a wealthy bourgeois who has an obsession with his health. This makes him a target for all the money grabbing medical charlatans of the day and also for Beline, his second hypocrytically tender wife. She would dearly love to see him killed off so that she can inherit his fortune. To save money, Argan insists his daughter Angelique, marry someone in the medical profession and consequently chooses Thomas Lillicrap, the imbecile son of a doctor friend. Angelique, however is deeply in love with another (Cleante). Therough the efforts of Toinette, (the servant0 the mercenary wife, Beline is eventually revealed to her blindly love-struck husband. Happily in the end Angelique is allowed to marry her love. Toinette by disguising herself as a 90 year old doctor comically carries out Argan's obsession to it's absurd extreme. The play finishes with a farcical graduation ceremony in mock-Latin verse.

Moliere

Moliere is considered to be France's greatest comic dramatist. His plays satirise people's failings and weaknesses, the aim of which was to persuade his audience to change their ways by making them laugh at themselves. The theatre was Moliere's whole life. Not only was he a fine actor, but he also wrote and directed all his own plays. He died of a coughing fit in 1673, shortly after playing Argan, the title role in his very last play 'Le Malade Imaginaire' (The Hypochondriac).

Show proves laughter's still the best medicine

Some things get better with age, as John McIlvean discovers when he reviews No Mean Co's 'The Hypochondriac'

Laughter was the name of the game at Cumbernauld Theatre at the weekend when no Mean Company presented the classic Moliere comedy, The Hypochondriac.

No Mean Company, the theatre's own amateur company, made a success of this version, translated from the French by Martin Sorrell, and the play is every bit as funny now as its classic status would suffest, even after 300 years.

Moliere is considered France's greatest comic dramatist. His works satirised people and their failings and weaknesses, with the aim of trying to persuade them to change their ways by making them laugh at themselves.

The Hypochondriac is a classic, poking fun mercilessly at the quackery of the medical establishment in Moliere's time.

Argan, the hypochondriac of the title, was played well by Duncan Weir. The plot centred round his plans to wed his daughter, Angelique, to the son of a doctor friend in order to save medical bill. Sngelique, of course, has other ideas and it's up to Argan's brother Beralde , and sharp witted maid Tionette to ensure that she marries the man of her choice, Cleante - and at the same time expose Argan's scheming wife Beline for the gold digger she is.

The play ended with a farcical graduation ceremony in song and mock Latin verse.

Linda Howitt was convincing as Angelique, interacting well with Kevin Byrne's Cleante, while Gerry Campbell was excellent as the devious Beline, determined to get her hands on Argan's wealth and send his two daughters to a convent if she can.

Calum Cormack was first class as Beralde, Argan's plain speaking and sensible brother, while Liz Ingram shone as Tionette, the quick-witted maid.

Angela Milton was Dr Lillicrap with Andy Gray as her well educated but imbecilic son Thomas.

Dorothy Roberts as Argan's physician, Dr Purgeon stole her scene with her 'excommunication' of Argan from her list of patients, calling down on him all deseases, real or imagined, known to man.

Irene Riddell delivered plenty of laughs as Louison, Argan's younger daughter, torn between her love for her father and loyalty to her sister, and Aileen Papureanu was lawyer Ms Goodfellow, part of Belines scheme to divest Argan of his wealth. She also played a belly dancer along with Jo Grant, brought along by Beralde to try to get Argan's mind off his supposed illnesses.

Jo Gallagher was the shepherdess/prologue at the commencement of the play and Stephen Devine was Mr Florid, another of Argan's medical attendants.

Charlie Friell raised the roof as the president of the medical academy at the graduation ceremony, at one point proving his mastery of the ad-lib.

Congratulations to director Owen Costello, researcher Jo Gallagher and musical director Michael Keenan for helping to ensure the show's success - and the company also thank John-Joe Thacker of Twechar, formerly with Cumbernauld Theatre and now a professional actor, for all his help and encouragement.