Comedy is an art, and it isn’t easy. What some find amusing, others barely snicker at. Humor comes from wordplay and language, action, innuendo and exquisite timing. We can all agree on the universality of drama- loneliness, illness, depression and death. However, it’s not as easy to agree on what is truly funny.

Based upon the comedy by Moliere in 1673, “The Imaginary Invalid” presented by Red Bull Theater, follows much of the original plotline. Mark Linn-Baker plays Argan, a wealthy hypochondriac, so obsessed with his health and imaginary illnesses that he determines to marry his daughter Angélique (Emilie Kouatchou) to a doctor. He hopes to save money and always have a doctor on call. When she gently resists because she’s fallen in love with Cléante (a clueless young man played by John Yi,) Argan threatens to send her to a convent.

Adapted and updated by Jeffrey Hatcher, some of the comedy in the play is derived from the personalities of the characters. Argan is constantly suffering from numb buttocks which result in some slapstick scenes as the doctors attempt to help him regain feeling in his offending posterior.

After the death of his first wife, Argan has remarried, a woman Beline ((Emily Swallow) who despite professing her love for him, is plotting on getting her hands on his money. Argan is oblivious to her plans and her interactions with her ‘friend,” the lawyer who is helping him change his will.

In a manic farce scene, the characters run back and forth across the very small stage going in and out of doors. For this to work, and be funny, timing is everything. However, because of the tight spaces (and despite the colorful set designed by Beowulf Boritt) , the scene doesn't work. While the actors certainly work hard, the comic timing just isn’t there.

Sometimes the timing is in the delivery. As Argan, Linn-Baker is pleasant and likeable, despite the absurdity of his character. His delivery is measured, but he doesn’t have many of the funny lines. That falls to Sarah Stiles as Toinette, the faithful servant, who gives the best performance. Straightfaced and droll, she is the true heroine of the play, yet even she becomes ridiculous when she dons a false nose and glasses pretending to be a doctor. (Argan doesn't even notice that it is her.) Okay- so comedy makes demands of the audiences- sometimes we must accept and overlook obviously implausible situations.

Arnie Burton plays all three doctors, and one point in the play, portrays all three at one time. Russell Daniels is dumb Thomas Diafoirus, the son of a respected doctor who is soon to become a doctor himself. He is a bit slow and has memorized his introductions to the family. He is supposed to be a doctor like his father, but he doesn’t want to be around blood and sick people.

Hatcher incorporates many of the classic elements of the farce: slamming doors, outlandish ridiculous physical humor and mistaken identities. He even adds a couple of modern gentle jabs at politics and the medical profession. As Thomas notes, people pay for insurance but then “you get sick and you pay more.”

“The Imaginary Invalid” has possibilities and does get some laughs from the audience. Yet It feels like the play needs more rehearsal or tighter direction from Jesse Berger. In some instances, the character delivers a line and it takes the audience an extra beat to ‘get it.’ Some of what was supposed to be funny fell a bit flat.

As an audience we want to laugh and root for our characters and take their side. People coming to see this play expect comedy. While the framework is there, the laughs are too far and few between.