Comments (0) |

'Curious Savage' a daring choice for Woodford theater

By Rich Copley rcopley@herald-leader.com

Conventional wisdom says The Curious Savage is not the type of show that a theater is supposed to have on its schedule, especially right now.

Even in the good times, directors tend to look for familiar titles that have proven themselves, preferably on film. And in tough times, a box-office flop could have dire consequences.

Despite The Curious Savage's onetime status as a community-theater staple, the 1950 play by Louisville native John Patrick does not have a film version, and the most recent local production that can be found in the Herald-Leader's archives was by Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in 1993.

"It's not a title that makes people say, 'Oh, I've got to see that!'" says Beth Kirchner, artistic director for the Woodford County Theatrical Arts Association.

She programmed it for this season and is directing the production, which opened this weekend at Versailles' Falling Springs Arts and Recreation Center.

Woodford's is the first of three planned productions in the region: Shelby County Community Theatre will present the play in May, and Berea Arena Theater will produce it in July.

"I read it and fell in love with it," Kirchner says of the play, which had a short run on Broadway in 1950, with Lillian Gish in the starring role. "It has a lot of qualities ignored in theater today. This is probably an overly broad generalization, but a lot of contemporary theater focuses on the bizarre or dark, where people have criminal tendencies.

"There still is an element of greed here: The kids commit their mother because they don't like the way she's spending her money. But there is an underlying theme of generosity."

In the play, Ethel P. Savage is a widow whose husband has left her $10 million. To her stepchildren's chagrin, she elects to use the money to help people realize their sometimes "foolish causes," as one stepchild says. Among the causes: helping an Italian farmer get a box of Italian dirt for $200, buying a flower peddler a tombstone for his horse, and sending a group of schoolchildren on an around-the-world cruise.

"Some of them are out there, and some of them are good, unless you're the one trying to get your hands on that money," says actor Melissa Rae Wilkeson, who plays a nurse in the show.

To stop Mrs. Savage, the children have her committed to a sanitorium. Clutching a one-eyed Teddy bear, she meets her fellow patients and finds that none of them is really insane, just socially maladjusted. Moreover, she finds a sincere sense of family among her companions that is absent from her real family.

The comedy ultimately sets up a question: Who is crazy, the people in the asylum or the stepchildren?

Kirchner says that she thinks the play is unique and tough to compare to anything else, having the flavor of 1940s and '50s comedies.

For Woodford County Theatre regulars, Kirchner says, there will be fun in the casting. Samantha Doane-Bates, who is known for her serious roles, including Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter, is playing the comic role of Mrs. Savage. Some of the theater's best-known comic character actors, including Wilkeson and Terry Withers, are playing serious roles.

"I'm the straight woman in the play, so it's fun to use that side of my abilities that I haven't been able to use for a while," Wilkeson says.

Kirchner says Doane-Bates has told her that she's enjoying the comic turn.

"It's so different to play comedy because it's all about pacing, and the audience will tell you immediately whether it's working or not," Kirchner says.

Comedy and an uplifting story are two of the reasons that Kirchner thinks The Curious Savage can clear the unfamiliar title hurdle and be a hit for the theater.

"People are looking more for an uplifting escape," Kirchner says. "I saw that when we opened our season with Macbeth, and you saw a decline in our patrons.

"They want to be uplifted, which is why I think The Curious Savage will have an appeal. It does make you laugh, and there are quirky characters, but it also uplifts you and inspires you to serve the world."

And that brings Kirchner back to another common goal of artistic directors: If they read a play and think it's good enough to produce, their audience will trust them enough to give it a shot.

"We hope we've built a faithful patron base," Kirchner says, "so I hope they'll turn out."