Robert Hewison
Roger McGough was a comedian before he became a whimsical poet, and these skills combine happily to serve his second Molière adaptation, given an entertaining production by Gemma Bodinetz.
This satire on the medical profession and its gullible victims is the one Molière died on stage performing. The adaptation is a long way from Molière, and quite close to Benny Hill, but there is real wit in McGough's rhymes. Clive Francis makes a music-hall turn out of the hypochondriacal Argan, and Lucinda Raikes charms as his daughter, though some of the cast should calm down and let the humour through. There is a delicious period design by Mike Britton, and pleasant musical pastiche by Conor Linehan. However frothy at the lips, this is a show that does not die on stage.