The Imaginary Invalid

We trust our director, Mrs. M, but when she announced the Spring Drama was "The Imaginary Invalid", a French play written in the 1600's by Moliere, there were more than a few who were like, "What the heck is this random, crazy play?"  However obscure it may seem, though, it was HILARIOUS!  Pure comedy that had the audience laughing for two hours!  Several people afterwards told me it was the best thing our Drama Department has ever done!

Now, here's something I find funny.  Ella got the part of Toinette, the maid/nurse.  She told me, "I'm not the lead, but I'm on stage the whole time."  I never saw her work on lines.  I figured she was a minor background character.  ELLA DROVE THE WHOLE PLAY!! She was the glue that held all the ridiculous storylines and characters together.  More often than not, if we were laughing, Ella was the reason.  She had a million lines and cues and knew her part implicitly, but everyone else's as well.  She waaaaay undersold herself and may have given the performance of a lifetime!  Again, soooo many compliments afterwards about how funny and what a a phenomenal character actor she is!

So what is this play about?  It's the story of an old man who is a hypochondriac, taking tons of medications and seeing several doctors.  To save himself some money and try to secure free (or at least discounted) medical care, he attempts to marry his beautiful eldest daughter off to a horrible young doctor.  Hijinks ensue!  There are cringy marriage proposals, fake deaths, an evil stepmother, bearded disguises, an improv duet about shepherds, and even a man hiding in a piano!  There is so much action and comedy, I'd need to put 30 pictures on the blog to show all the expressive faces.  So, here are some collages I've made of the girls.  No face is the same!

Delia won our hearts with a small, but memorable part as the younger sister Louise.  She bounced into the third act, endearing and a dramatic mirror of her unhinged father.  She too told us her part was small, but this girl has The It Factor.  Even when her scene is small, she steals it.  Lots of compliments afterwards for her magnetic stage presence too!

The play has a happy ending when our "sick" old man realizes he doesn't have to ruin his daughter's life for free doctor care-- he can just become a doctor himself!   The final act is a silly graduation ceremony, where everyone attempts to speak Latin.

The cast.  SO much talent here!  Our director said, "Playing ridiculous is so much harder than playing straight."  Who knew our kids could do big, physical, expressive comedy so well?

Our director, Mrs. M, who loved everything about this show, and its small, dedicated cast, was a great encouragement every day.

The juniors, still representing the majority of the cast.  Word is that next year their big final musical will be The Sound of Music!  Mrs. M. needed something with lots of parts to accommodate all the interest and talent.  Ella already has her eyes on the Baroness role! ;)

Lovely, supportive church family!  So many bless us by coming to these things to cheer for our girls.  We always love that they report afterwards that they were seriously impressed and entertained.

Super proud parents and co-presidents of our girls' Fan Club!

I didn't take too many friend pictures, but both girls had all their friends come see them.  On Friday we laughed that Delia had the loudest cheer at curtain call because she had a whole row of freshmen screaming for her.  And one of Ella's favorite parts of the play was growing closer to fellow cast mates-- like Ava and Isaac (the title character and lone, super talented, senior).

There is NO down time to recover!  In two days Delia auditions for the next one-- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for grades 6-10 (our director is using the Middle School play to make up for the two classes that had their plays cancelled by Covid).  Ella heads to Robotics competition in two weeks, so her long hours at school just change location, from the stage to the lab!