The Theater: Stratford Solution

A summer drama festival can be defined as a green field where Shakespeare meets an army of clever directors—and often loses. For playgoers tired of seeing their Much Ado About Nothing in Teddy Roosevelt costumes and Troilus and Cressida outfitted in Confederate grays and Union blues, the 22nd Stratford Canada festival offers two solutions: the little-known worst of Shakespeare and the little-known best of Molière. The second alternative is infinitely attractive, starting with the visual sense of the word.

For The Imaginary Invalid, Director Jean Gascon has framed adroitly what is in essence a portrait. He has positioned the malingering Argan (William...