In 1673, Molière played a man convinced he was dying. He collapsed during the fourth performance and died soon after. In 2026, Bill Irwin plays the same man on Broadway. He sits in an armchair and adds up his doctor's bills. Charles Isherwood, reviewing it in Friday's Journal, calls the production hilarious.
The play is 'The Imaginary Invalid,' Molière's last. Irwin adapted it himself and plays Argan, the invalid. It's the first Molière on Broadway in more than 20 years, Isherwood notes. The Roundabout Theatre Company staged it, with Brandon J. Dirden directing. The opening monologue is the money scene. From his chair, Argan reviews every treatment and what Dr. Purgon, his "primary care physician," charged for it. He counts this month's medicines, bleedings and enemas. He counts last month's. Last month had more. So, he decides, that's why he feels worse now. Irwin's version draws a straight line from 17th-century bleedings to 21st-century peptide shots, testosterone and collagen.
Then there's the household. Argan has promised his daughter Angelique (Ava Lalezarzadeh) to a doctor's son, so he'll have a physician in the family. She loves Cleante (Daniel Croix Henderson), who sneaks in disguised as a music teacher. Argan's wife, Beline (Crystal A. Dickinson), dotes on him to his face. Behind his back, she and her lover, the notary Bonnefoy, are working to get at his money. Rachel Bloom plays Toinette, the servant whose eye-rolls give the audience permission to roll theirs. Brooks Ashmanskas plays both doctors. Dylan Baker arrives late as Beralde, the brother who thinks the doctors are the problem.
Two very old traps
Isherwood says the production isn't subtle, and that's the point. Karen Perry's costumes balloon and glitter. Isherwood calls Irwin "the greatest clown in the American theater of the past half-century." This role keeps him in his chair most of the night, so his face does the acting. He gets up for a soft-shoe at the end. The show runs at the Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., and closes Nov. 22. Go for the laughs. Stay for the two scams, because they're still running.
Our read
This is a Health Costs story with an Estate twist, and we're smiling. There's nothing to buy, so our verdict is hold. Argan's two problems still turn up in 2026. The first is paying for care you can't explain. He knows the price of every bleeding and never asks what any of it did for him. A bill with a line you don't understand deserves a phone call, and an itemized copy, before it gets paid. The second is the devoted insider. Beline is all tenderness in the sickroom and all business with the notary. Today the tools are a power of attorney, a joint account or a new beneficiary form. The person holding them is usually loving. Sometimes they're Beline.
Here's where Argan's trouble meets your own plan. It's your medical bills, and the names on your estate papers. This week, pull your last medical bill and its explanation of benefits, the insurer's note on what it paid. Find the one line you can't explain, call about it and ask for the itemized bill. While the folder is open, check who holds your power of attorney and who is named on your beneficiary forms. Argan never looked. You check the umbrella before the sky turns, and the names before anyone needs them. If a name gives you pause, bring the forms to a review and we'll go through them with you.