Photo by Craig Schwartz
Jonas Schwartz - TheaterMania
During its 25th anniversary season, A Noise Within revives Molière’s madcap play The Imaginary Invalid after first performing it in 2001, but this time with Constance Congdon’s 2007 adaptation. Zany as a Marx Brothers movie, the farce delves into hypochondria and the perversity of the patriarchy. Though some of the modern speech in Congdon’s text is too clever by half, this production captures Molière’s irreverent flavor. Read more…
Photo by Miriam Geer
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze
Conventional wisdom says laughter is the best medicine. Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum fills prescriptions in generous supply with its production of Molière’s “The Imaginary Invalid,” adapted by Constance Congdon. But beware: In doing so, it raises quite a stink. Read more…
Now running through October 2
Photo by Elias McCabe
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw
Although it’s dangerous to impose our own political leanings on works of the past, Moliere’s 1662 sex farce could in many ways be considered a bona fide feminist tract. Read more…
Now running through May 7
Bob Verini - Arts In LA
For Tartuffe to achieve maximum comic, emotional, and thematic impact, the privileged Orgon must serve as the central figure. He must be a misanthrope (a type not unknown to Molière) well and truly disgusted with the world’s vanities as typified by his frivolous, feckless family. Orgon’s profound despair explains his retreat into excessive piety, and it’s what renders him vulnerable to the spell of a seemingly holy visionary. Read more…
Now running through May 24.
Photo by Sasha.
The Miser by Moliere, adaptation by Lance Davis.
Hoyt Hilsman – The Huffington Post
Los Angeles has a star shining brightly in its theatrical firmament. Parson’s Nose Productions, a small ensemble troupe in Pasadena, has the unique mission of presenting classic stories in shorter, entertaining and more contemporary formats to appeal to the broadest possible audiences, young and old. Their dynamic and wickedly talented artistic director, Lance Davis, who adapts and stars in most of the productions, believes that the classics endure because they speak illuminating truths to each generation. Read more…