DOCTORS ON TRIAL IN ‘THE IMAGINARY INVALID’

Bad medicine--then and now--sets the stage for Moliere’s “The Imaginary Invalid,” opening Friday at the Grove Shakespeare Festival.

“It was first performed in 1673, under the patronage of Louis XIV,” explained director Frank Condon. “It’s a farcical comedy, but also biting commentary on the medical profession of the time: their crude, barbarian, torturous methods. “There was a lot of surgery, bleedings, purgings. . . . Sure, there’ve been remarkable improvements since then. But medical malpractice is still with us; I have my own modern Western medicine horror story. So it’s very contemporary.

“At the same time the play was first being done, (the explorer) La Salle was planting a flag in another part of the world, which would become New Orleans,” Condon continued. “So it became irresistible to me to have that as a setting.” He’s updated it, though, to 1912. “New Orleans used to be known as ‘The City of Death and Dying’--it was the only U.S. city below sea level, and there was no irrigation system until the ‘20s. So there was disease, plagues, malaria; it was a terrible place to be in the summer.”

As part of his research, Condon (an associate artistic director at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble) ventured to the Louisiana city--and found it a most fitting locale. “There was this old apothecary shop filled with traditional and even voodoo potions--some of which haven’t been used for decades, others that have been repackaged and are still being used today.”

Ironically, he added, “Moliere (who played Argan in the original staging) was himself suffering very much like Argan in the play; he collapsed during the fourth performance. The doctors were called but no one came, because he had so offended the community”--with “The Flying Doctor,” “The Doctor in Spite of Himself” and other critical works.

“So he got no treatment--and died. But I think the fact that this piece lives 300 years after his death must surely mean that Moliere’s having the last laugh.”

Also in a light period vein comes Jean Anouilh’s “Ring Around the Moon,” opening Saturday at the Colony Studio Theatre.

“Anouilh calls this (a) piece brilliante ,” said director Michael Keenan, “a fairy tale about a very rich set of twins--one who’s cynical about love, the other sentimental.” Both are played by Parker Stevenson, making his local stage debut. “A poor ballet dancer is hired by the cynical brother to come to an engagement party and attract the twin. Instead, she falls in love with the cynical brother, which leads to the basic drama: ‘What do we do?’ ”

Set in 1912 France (“Erte-sleek: working up to flapper, but not quite flapper yet”), a cast of 12 rounds out the action as “assorted weirds assembled for the party.” Added Keenan: “In some ways, the play is sweet and gentle. But it also cannot get away from making some social commentary. So the victim/heroine, who’s put in with these exotic birds, emerges triumphant. And there’s a happy ending; everybody goes home with the right person.”

LATE CUES: Arthur Peterson and June August’s “Robert Frost: Fire and Ice” (tracing the poet from his youth in a California mining town through literary successes) opens Wednesday at Actors Alley. . . . On Saturday, Mean Noises Productions hosts a Midsummer Madness Benefit Champagne Party at the Communicom Sound Stage in Hollywood. Included: food, drinks, entertainment (by Kathy Garrick, Mary Bond Davis and Roy Leake) and a raffle for “very cool prizes.” Advance tickets are $10; call (213) 466-1767.