The story is so incredible that it seems
apocryphal. But it’s true.
In 1673, the 51-year-old Moliere – who, in his day, was as well-known
as an actor as he was a playwright – was playing the lead role
of Argan in his play "The Imaginary Invalid," a delicious
stab at the medical profession that still holds up a relevant
mirror more than three centuries later.
Already ill while writing the play, Moliere (whose real name
was Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) suffered a hemorrhage during a performance
and died.
Like French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully’s death – which stemmed
from an infection he received after jamming his counting stick
into his foot while keeping time during a performance of one
of his operas – Moliere’s death is among the strangest for any
artist, especially since he was playing a hypochondriac, and
at first, everyone thought it was part of the performance.
"It is so ironic, isn’t it?" asks Joseph Melillo, executive
producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which presents France’s
acclaimed Comedie-Francaise in five performances of "The
Imaginary Invalid" at the BAM Harvey Theater June 9-13.
"Truth definitely is stranger than fiction. It was definitely
a theatrical conclusion to his life."
Moliere’s plays – cunning, witty texts that savagely lampoon
social institutions, from "The Misanthrope" and "The
Miser" to "Tartuffe" and "Don Juan"
(which the Comedie-Francaise brought to BAM on its last Brooklyn
visit eight years ago) – remain alive and vital to theatergoers
and readers alike because they have not dated one iota.
Melillo’s thoughts on "The Imaginary Invalid" apply
to all of Moliere’s work.
"It’s hysterically funny, and you don’t need to know French
[culture and society] to get it," he explains. "It
is deliciously hysterical, and it’s all to the playwright’s credit
that he wrote this in 1673, and he knew how to focus our attention
on the gullibility of hypochondriacs and the medical profession.
Its social commentary – what’s true then is true now – is why
the play sustains itself."
Dubbed "The House of Moliere," the Comedie-Francaise
has been around nearly as long as the master’s plays: King Louis
XIV established the company in 1680, seven years after Moliere’s
death. In the 324 years since, only the start of the French Revolution
kept the troupe off the stage, and then only for a brief period.
Melillo was especially hopeful to bring the company back to Brooklyn,
even though their tours are sporadic at best. (Their only other
BAM appearance was in 1979, with Georges Feydeau’s farce "A
Flea in Her Ear.")
"I specifically went [to see them in Paris] to find a work
to get them to return them to BAM," he says. "I spent
a lot of time looking at a whole range of their work, and I focused
on this particular Moliere play because it’s simply exceptional."
Melillo discusses the difficulties of securing their appearance.
"It’s definitely challenging," he admits. "They’re
a repertory theater and they don’t generally tour, and the main
reason why we were able to invite them here this time is that
there is going to be construction on their main stage, so they
have the ability to tour the United States."
The primary strengths of the Comedie-Francaise are its resident
artists, both the actors and directors. Claude Stratz, the Swiss
director who is staging "The Imaginary Invalid," has
been with the company since 1999 and receives special praise
from Melillo.
"Claude Stratz has directed with extraordinary style and
authenticity," he says. "This will be his directorial
debut in New York. What he does is oversee the conservatory there,
so he’s always working with actors – usually young and emerging
actors. He’s like an acting coach for the company. And his cast
for this play is a mix of the best of the [troupe’s] senior actors
and some of the younger ones.
"It’s the combination of these actors who I believe are
the best in France – and I spend a lot of time looking at theater
in France – and the director who distinguish this work. It’s
unfortunate that we have only rare opportunities to see them."
The company’s pre-eminence in the world of the theater shows
no signs of abating, even after three centuries of performing.
"They’re definitely not a museum," Melillo insists.
"This is a vital producing theater that balances its calling
card, classical work, with a lot of contemporary work."
The Comedie-Francaise’s production of
Moliere’s "The Imaginary Invalid" plays June 9-12 at
7:30 pm and June 13 at 3 pm at BAM’s Harvey Theater, at 651 Fulton
St. between Ashland and Rockwell places in Fort Greene. Tickets
are $25, $40 and $60. For tickets and more information, call
(718) 636-4100 or visit the Web site at www.bam.org.
