With a cast boasting names like Tony Robinson and Imogen Stubbs, a production team involving the music and lyrics of Jerry Springer: The Opera’s Richard Thomas, and an adaptation of Molière’s time-tested comedy by the celebrated playwright responsible for One Man, Two Guvnors, the audience of last night’s Arts Theatre show The Hypochondriac were in for a treat. Bean’s adaptation brought Molière’s play to the 21st century with a translation fit for the modern stage, whilst retaining the form and costume suited to a 17th century French ‘comédie-ballet’ – managing to make (mostly) subtle comments which transcended the cultures of the two. 

Richard Thomas’s music takes the place of the traditional interludes of music and dance, as the audience are first greeted with a man dressed in leathers and eyeliner, supported by three court singers-cum-surgeons, rocking out to a tune apparently entitled ‘Germs, Germs, Germs’, followed by another song with the catchy refrain ‘Where Would We Be Without Drugs?’ Behind them looms a brightly coloured, medical-looking piece of artwork – the signature ‘Gilbert and George, 1996’ clearly visible at the bottom. It is an enlarged version of the provocative ‘Spunk Blood Piss Shit Spit’, with some of its more obviously nasty elements cropped out. The combination of the backdrop and songs which frame the three acts of the play gives a nice bit of contemporary satire to the comedy which unravels in between, confronting us with an unflattering mirror of our symptom-Googling, paracetamol-guzzling selves. 

The main action of the plot, taking place in the magnificent interior of a baroque home, transports us right back into the place of Molière’s original audience. Tony Robinson’s hilarious opening monologue showcases his abilities as a highly talented stage performer – his occasional addresses to the audience throughout the production never failing to gain big laughs. Lisa Diveney did a good job portraying Angelique as a lovestruck teen, whilst Tracie Bennett’s Toinette held the plot together with her rigorous energy. A very good performance was given by the lesser-known Craig Gazey, whose strange but entertaining Thomas added a new dynamic to an already funny show. Imogen Stubbs, for the time she was on stage, was excellent as the gold-digging Beline, but sadly the limits of her part meant she did not feature heavily in the show. 

Lindsay Posner and Lisa Blair’s direction certainly emphasised the play’s toilet humour, even down to the show’s very set – a punchline cleverly revealed during the first act. They also created some memorable moments through their staging, notably Angelique and Creon’s improvised ‘opera’. The scene that captured the audience the most, however, was the final one, in which a burlesque is performed with ‘magical’ (not to give away any spoilers) consequences. This led into an addition to Molière’s play, which acknowledged its ironic performance history and delighted the audience, adhering to Molière’s own playful self-references.

This play was a wonderful farce – however, the nature of the plot meant that jokes were sporadic and rarely side-splitting. Despite Bean’s attempts to translate the more provocative side of the humour to the modern audience, which in themselves were funny enough, some of the key themes of Molière’s play do not wholly transfer. Nonetheless, this star-studded production delivers an enjoyable new rendering of a classic comedy which makes for a fun-filled evening out.