Hypochondriac

Moliere (1622-73) is known as the greatest French writer of comedy. His plays include The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, and The School for Wives, all available in an omnibus edition from Methuen Drama. Award-winning poet, playwright and children's author Roger McGough made his name as one of the 'Liverpool Poets' with Adrian Henri and Brian Patten. He is a National Curriculum recommended poet for secondary English.

'Roger McGough's light-on-its-pieds adaptation... Though it begins with a fart, this is a not up-its-own-derriere version, in which, when a character comes out with a Gallic sentence, she's told that she should 'speak properly'. Its point may be satirical but it projects generosity.' Susannah Clapp, Observer, 28.6.09 'Roger McGough was a comedian before he became a whimsical poet, and these skills combine happily to serve his second Moliere adaptation.' Robert Hewison, Sunday Times, 28.6.09 'It's a tonic, guaranteed to lift your spirits and keep them high, buoyed up by the wit and dexterity of McGough's verse... A ticklish tour de farce.' Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday, 29.6.09 'McGough takes a variety of attitudes towards Moliere, though reverence is not among them.' Alfred Hickling, Guardian, 1.7.09 'Roger McGough has added his own medicinal properties to Moliere's The Hypochondraic, upping the laughter quotient in an elixir that's easy to swallow though you might want to hold your nose.' Lynne Walker, Independent, 8.7.09