OSF Review: The Imaginary Invalid

Hello all, and we're back with another review for the week! I can't believe how much of a talk show host I just sounded like, but there you go.

I guess to start off, school has been pretty hectic if not slow (oxymoron, right?). I found out recently that SOU's production of "You Can't Take It With You" is indeed using a live cat as part of their crew and I have been entitled to be their "cat wrangler", as it were.
So that's about all the exciting news I have, really. Now, to the review!

In an attempt to reach out to the issue of the public health option, OSF decided to put on The Imaginary Invalid, a french play by Moliere and adapted by the genius' who brought OSF The Servant of Two Masters about two years ago (for those who have no idea what it is, just know it was brilliant and hilarious). The story is about a hypochondriac man who tries to wed his youngest daughter off to a doctor's nephew, when really she is in love with another man. His servant constantly tries to convince the hypochondriac that he is not really sick at all, and that he must see his family is more important than his health. It's full of antic loop holes and improvisational fun that it just keeps you keen on your ears throughout the entire story. At first I was excited to see this production because:
a) David Kelly is the lead actor (a man of genius, just keep this in mind)
b) It was by the adapters who brought us said-previous play. Which I loved.

. . . To say the least and in all fairness to OSF's hard work, I would recommend this play to anyone looking for a comedy. There are not a whole lot this season so if you'd like to give yourself a laugh, then this is the play for you. It's interactive, flashy, gaudy (in the good sense), and will pinpoint memories that you didn't think you could have picked out beforehand. Oh, and the ending leaves you for thinking, as well.

Now, here's MY personal view of the show.
I didn't really like it. I didn't really enjoy it minus a few actors I had known through SOU. It also doesn't help that the play is set in 1960s France. When I read the script for this show before I had a completely different vision for this show, and the way OSF portrayed it did not work for me at all to feel for the cast, minus one character.
The costumes were fantastic and enveloped the characters perfectly based on the material used for said costuming. But really...it was hard for me to focus on the show since the play was solely prodding fun at the era of 1960s sitcoms. Not to mention they blended the pop cultural references of pushing for the most recent debate of public health care (intentionally set for a Democratic stance), and I've recently discovered that I just don't enjoy excessive pop cultural references in a given medium (books, movies, games, etc.)

So, go if you'd like a good laugh. Don't go if you're anal about design like I am.

And that's my two cents! So next week will be a review of one of my personal favorite pieces by OSF so far this season, so that should be exciting! Anyway I hope y'all have a good weekend and a good week following after that! Later~