Adobe Theater solid in the charming ‘Curious Savage’
Cast brings lovable oddballs to life in rarely performed comedy
John Patrick, who died in 1995 at age 90, is known today for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “The Teahouse of the August Moon.” His charming comedy “The Curious Savage” is still occasionally produced by community theaters and high schools but is for the most part neglected by professional theaters. “The Curious Savage” is currently playing at Adobe Theater in a solid production directed by Micah Linford.
Patrick’s play contrasts the humanity and generosity of spirit of a group of patients in an institution for the insane with a trio of greedy and inhumane members of the upper classes from the world outside. What we see is that those within the institution are really the sane ones (because they value love, fellowship and kindness), while those outside the institution are the insane ones (because their selfish desires have destroyed their humanity).
The trio — a senator, a judge, and their six-times married gold-digging sister — commit their stepmother to the institution when they learn she has taken the $10 million her recently deceased husband left her and set up a memorial fund in his name for the fulfillment of foolish dreams.
The eccentrics in the institution include a garrulous woman who thinks she is very beautiful and needs to be told frequently that she is loved; an older woman who won’t talk (except to spout off lists of things she hates); a young woman who thinks her doll is her measles-infected son; an extremely shy former World War II pilot obsessed with an imaginary scar on his face; and a former statistician who plays the violin poorly. Mrs. Savage enters this milieu and grows to love these eccentrics.
With few exceptions, the cast does a fine job bringing these lovable oddballs to life, although in general I would have liked to see a layer of pathos underneath their amiable facade. The actors could have found more depth. This is especially true of Florence, who has lost her child to illness in infancy. Although she projects her love for her lost child onto a doll, there must be a terrible burden of pain beneath the surface, and Rachel Thompson, unfortunately, never communicates that pain to us.
Doris Hargrave is delightful as the wise and kindhearted Mrs. Savage, a perfectly sane woman who descends into this wacky world to find there more love and sanity then she ever did with her mean-spirited stepchildren.
The three greedy grown-up children are caricatures, but it is gratifying to see Mrs. Savage get the better of them over the course of the play.
Two characters not yet mentioned are Dr. Emmett and Miss Willie, the nurse. Like the inmates, doctor and nurse are warmhearted and sane. Fabianna Borghese is excellent as Miss Willie, emanating a perfectly understated and genuine empathy for all the inmates, but especially for Jeff, the emotionally scarred war veteran.
The design elements are welldone, as they always are at Adobe. My one complaint is the lack of attention to stage composition. Too often the actors bunched together center stage. I see this a lot at Adobe and don’t always mention it. An actor should never stand directly behind another actor. Fill out the playing space. Playing through Aug. 7. Visit adobetheater.org or call 8989222 for reservations.