A good rant’s not hard to find in this home
The Curious Savage makes ‘madhouse’ fun
Stories about life don’t normally begin on a deathbed and end in a madhouse — but normal was all relative in Archbishop Oscar Romero’s production of The Curious Savage. Its talented cast gave a performance that pulsed with human spirit, balancing both laughs and bittersweet philosophy.
This updated gem, written by John Patrick and originally produced in 1950, focuses on heiress Ethel P. Savage, a character who is swept into a swirling mass of odd events after being wrongly thrown into The Cloisters, a sanatorium. The eccentric residents of The Cloisters are a genuine family to each other. They accept that motherly Florence has a doll for a child, that Mrs. Paddy takes vicious pleasure in turning out the lights, and that newspapers are a bad thing, unless you read them a month too late. And maybe a little acceptance is exactly what Ethel Savage needs.
The unflappable Cassandra Duchene shone as Ethel with a slow smile and a positively savage streak of humour. She was able to capture more than just witty comebacks — her true strength was found in the moments of surprising tenderness that her character showed. Hannibal, a fellow resident of The Cloisters, was portrayed by Patrick Davies. Whether the focus of attention or not, Davies remained a frayed and strangely hilarious bundle of nervous tics, and a constant source of humour in the show. No one could possibly forget Rebecca Kennedy, whose comedic timing and hunched body language brought Mrs. Paddy’s hatred of everything in general (but electricity in particular) to life.
Perhaps the most startling part of this performance was how organic it felt. Lines weren’t so much delivered as created, formed in the natural push and pull of conversation. With so much ranting, shrieking and yelling, occasional words got lost in the fray, but this was more than made up for by the production’s fast-paced energy, which warmed considerably in the second act. It was hysterical, in more than one way.
With all of those hysterics, it was up to the production crew to subtly accent the action without taking viewers out of the play. Simple set, light and costume choices highlighted the big personalities present onstage — personalities beyond the usual high school production fare. Although some scene changes disrupted the flow, ultimately elements of the production worked smoothly to create a charming performance.
“Why, this is simply a madhouse!” one of Ethel’s stepsons screams onstage in a fit of indignant rage. But there’s method in the madness, and sometimes the line drawn between the sane and insane seemed surprisingly thin. Why not try to wear out a carpet evenly by walking ritualistically around the edge? What makes one person’s beliefs more valid than another’s? How much hilarity can be stuffed into one cast?
Archbishop Oscar Romero’s production of The Curious Savage raised a few questions, answered a few more and left its audience both reflective and full, all signs of a good play, perhaps even a madly good one.