The Imaginary Invalid

The Imaginary Invalid was quite a production. I have never been much a fan of theatre or musicals, but I do appreciate the talent and story behind them. Walking into the Bush Chapel I immediatley caught the feel of the play. I felt a bit creeped out, a little confused, and quite honestly I felt a little trippy. Needless to say these feelings remained throughout the play. The choreography was great, the makeup and costumes were stunning. I was amazed at the stage, actors and production of the play, but almost felt robbed by the plot and story. I really enjoyed the humor of the play, but did wonder which parts were appropriate to laugh at. I watched each scene with a hope of some clarity as to what exactly was going on. I found myself waiting for a climax or a breakthrough. When the play ended I was wondering what exactly I just watched and what the purpose of the story was. I was a bit distracted by all that was going on onstage and I missed some of the dialogue so I did a little more research on the story. I looked up a short summary of the play online and I realized I didn’t miss anything major, but I am still unaware of what exactly the author was trying to say. I caught a couple “deeper” lines about doing everything the doctors say will actually kill you, but is that really the point the writer was trying to make? Was there a bigger picture that I missed? It is possible that the author was trying to say something about marriage and how we choose our partners. But why the crazy costumes? Why the odd face painting? Was the entire play a dark comedy? It was an interesting and trippy couple of hours. I am still undecided whether I enjoyed it or not.