The Imaginary Invalid

The Imaginary Invalid
Konstantin Stanislavski as Argan in the Moscow Art Theatre production in 1913.
Written by	Molière
Date premiered	1673
Place premiered	Théâtre du Palais-Royal Paris
Original language	French
Genre	comédie-ballet

The Imaginary Invalid, The Hypochondriac, or The Would-Be Invalid (French title Le Malade imaginaire, [lə malad imaʒinɛːʁ]) is a three-act comédie-ballet by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes (H.495, H.495 a, H.495 b) by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It premiered on 10 February 1673 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris^[1] and was originally choreographed by Pierre Beauchamp.^[2]

Molière had fallen out with the powerful court composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, with whom he had pioneered the comédie-ballet form a decade earlier, and had opted for the collaboration with Charpentier.^[3] Le malade imaginaire was Molière's last work. He collapsed during his fourth performance as Argan on 17 February and died soon after.