Students Practice Comedy With Molière

A group of 11 students have been combining the rigorous time commitments of staging a theatrical production with the unique challenges of acquiring a new language in the Spring term course FREN 306: Study and Production of a Play, and the culmination of their work will be presented Apr. 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the basement of Le Chateau when they perform Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid) by seventeenth-century French comedic playwright Molière.

The diverse cast hails from Burundi, Morocco, Senegal, Japan, France and the United States, and these 11 students taking the course for credit are joined by nine students tackling technical and behind the scene roles in lighting, costumes, make-up, set design and administrative work, as well as advising from this year’s French assistant, Charlotte Prieu.

Molière, the stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, polished his comedic abilities as an actor before he began writing plays, and he was popular with French aristocrats and Parisians for both his acting and his clever way with words. He is known as one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western Literature, and penned classic works such as Le Bourgeois Gentillhome (The Bourgeois Gentleman) and the final work before his death, Le Malade Imaginaire.

Produced in 1673, Le Malade Imaginaire is a three act play originally performed with dance sequences and musical interludes that follows hypochondriac Argan and the romantic affairs of his daughter, Angelique, while heavily satirizing the dependence on doctors who, at the time, depended on methods such as enemas and bleeding to purge the body of impurities.

“In selecting a French play to perform before an audience of primarily non-native speakers, I give preference to works that allow us to take full advantage of non-verbal means to complement textual meaning, including the use of gesture, intonation and other visual and acoustic cues,” Professor of French and Director Charles Nunley said. “Molière’s theater, and Le Malade Imaginaire in particular, is geared toward such adaptation.  Molière’s farcical approach to theater, moreover, is an invitation to experiment.  He invites us to step outside the ‘sameness’ of everyday life and immerse ourselves in the richness of human experience.  Such exploration is enhanced by the fact that the language Molière uses is that of seventeenth-century France which often comes across as delightfully strange to the modern ear.”

Aissatou Gaye ’16 is from Senegal and will be studying abroad in France next semester. The course perfectly filled her 300 level French language requirement.

“I came across this course and I didn’t think twice about it,” she said. “Theater always captured my attention and I couldn’t resist the possibility of diving into it for a full semester.”

In Le Malade Imaginaire, Gaye plays Toinette, a compassionate, intelligent and sassy servant of Argan and his family, acting as a central figure connecting father, daughter, doctor and stepmother. Playing the role has challenged Gaye to completely step outside of herself.

“Although I can identify with a number of similar traits in the sense that she really wants to help out, I find her energy and motivation hard to embody,” she said. “She adds a certain dynamism to every scene in which she appears and given my somewhat calm and shy nature, this is quite challenging.”

Though some students from outside the class were recruited to assist in specific technical aspects of production, all of the enrolled students are involved in virtually every aspect of the presentation.

“I would say that each participant brings specific competencies to the production,” Nunley said.  “For example, one student with experience in vocal performance has created a wonderful duet to be sung a cappella in the second act by the play’s two young lovers, Angélique and Cléante.  The hats worn by the doctors in the closing burlesque scene were created by a group of students with, to say the least, a vivid imagination.  I continue to be amazed by the energy and resourcefulness students bring to the play.  I find it difficult to keep up with them!”

The necessity for lightning-quick, radically different costume changes has proven difficult, and at least four quick-moving stage hands are needed to assist equally fast actors in smoothly making the physical transitions.

In addition to evening rehearsals, screenings and improvisational exercises, students enrolled in the course have studied the application of Molière’s comedy from many perspectives, including examination of French philosopher Henri Bergson’s 1900 essay on laughter and Eugène Ionesco’s exploration of fear of death in his 1962 absurdist play, The King is Down.

Ultimately, Nunley believes that the College’s invaluable opportunity for students to study French through theater is an extremely useful way for learners to critically engage with their new language skills.

“There can often seem such a difference, at least in perception, between the acquisition of language proficiency per se and the acquisition of tools for thoughtful engagement with literary texts,” he said. “I believe the collective undertaking of a theatrical production in French can be effective in dispelling such perceptions.”

Students like Gaye agree that the theater possesses a magical quality of teamwork and critical thinking.

“Acting is fulfilling and energizing and it gives you the platform to connect with your partners on a level that you wouldn’t otherwise,” Gaye said. “My classmates and professor have made this experience rewarding for me.”

Seating is limited, so theatergoers are encouraged to arrive early.