World Premiere
Directed by Andrew Paul
Starring Simon Bradbury, Derdriu Ring, Joanna Strapp, & David Whalen

“This is a truly remarkable play. It manages to combine broad, slapstick humor, detailed historical knowledge, and witty, original dialogue to great comic effect, whilst achieving moments of genuine pathos – an impressive feat of comic writing.”
- Dr. John Bennett, Chair of Judges, Liverpool Hope Playwriting Prize

The Illustrious Invalid is set in 1673, when playwriting and acting was risky business. It imagines the final, fitful day in the life of the playwright Molière, as, knowing his death is near, he prepares to put on a performance of his play, The Imaginary Invalid. Molière’s wife tries to dissuade him from performing, and asks him to sign a document renouncing the acting profession in hopes of saving his soul and affording him a Christian burial. A mad, humpbacked priest, quack doctors administering enemas, censorious musketeers, and the Sun King himself all conspire to keep him from the stage in this madcap romp.

Simon Bradbury’s riotous new play, inspired by his many years on the stage in the US, UK, and Canada (including a role in Molière’s Tartuffe at the Stratford Festival) received the Liverpool Hope Playwriting Prize (The UK’s second most prestigious new play prize and the only award given for comedy) in 2017. The Illustrious Invalid receives its World Premiere this summer in Pittsburgh in a high-octane production starring its author in the role of Molière. If you loved The Liar and Scapino this is one hilarious comedy you will not want to miss!

**This production includes strong language, comic violence, and adult situations.**