The Illustrious Invalid

About This Event

The Illustrious Invalid by Simon Bradbury
July 16 - August 2, 2020
City Theatre Company on the South Side
Lester Hamburg Studio Theatre
World Premiere
Directed by Andrew Paul and starring Simon Bradbury

The Illustrious Invalid is set in 1673, when playwriting and acting were risky business. It imagines the final fitful day in the life of the playwright, Moliere, as knowing he is dying, he prepares to put on a performance of his play, The Imaginary Invalid. Moliere's wife and servant try to dissuade him from performing, and ask 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, sassy servants, 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's Shaw and Stratford Festivals, received the Liverpool Hope Playwriting Prize in 2017 and receives its world premiere this summer in a high-octane production starring its author as Moliere.

Dr. John Bennett, Chair of Judges, calls The Illustrious Invalid "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 general pathos--an impressive feat of comic writing." The Illustrious Invalid is this year's Classics Re-mastered production.

$20 tickets for persons age 25 and under available at the door one hour before the show. Must show ID with proof of age at the time of purchase.

A Family Pack is also available for two adults and two youth under the age of 18 for $99. When you go to purchase your tickets, just choose "Family Pack". Some adult language and situations.