MASON CITY – Mason City High School will present the classic comedy, The Curious Savage, on the Stebens Theatre stage Friday, November 8th, through Sunday, November 10th. Performances are at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday, with a 2:00 pm matinee on Sunday, November 10. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students, and are available prior to the performances, or at the High School office.
The Curious Savage, by John Patrick, is a comedy about Ethel P. Savage, a woman whose husband recently died and left her approximately ten million dollars. Due to her eccentric tendencies, she has been committed to The Cloisters, an upscale sanatorium. The kindness and loyalty of the psychiatric patients is contrasted with the greed and vanity of “respectable” public figures. By the end of the play, the audience questions who the sane ones really are.
The comedy is produced in arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. The publisher states that: “The last scene, a farewell party, is a delightful fantasy where each “guest” in the sanatorium realizes at last some hopeless dream for something he was never able to realize. The dominant mood is high comedy, and the audience is left with a feeling that the neglected virtues of kindness and affection have not been entirely lost in a world that seems motivated at times only by greed and dishonesty.”
Playwright John Patrick states in his foreword to the play: “It is important in The Curious Savage that the gentle inmates of The Cloisters be played with warmth and dignity. Their home is not an asylum nor are these good people lunatics. The whole point of the play is to contrast them with Mrs. Savage’s children and the insane outside world.” In this way, conventional definitions of sanity are contrasted with celebrity culture of the time. The play was first produced on Broadway in 1950, with Lillian Gish in the title role of Ethel.
The cast of characters include the Savage Family: Ethel, Emily Dodd; Titus, Trevor Trousdale; Lily Belle, Madeline Chyba; Samuel, Randy Davenport; “Guests” at The Cloisters: Fairy May, Lyndie Best; Florence, Callie Ginapp; Mrs. Paddy, Emily Overy; Jeffrey, Elijah Warfield; Hannibal, Drake Davis. The Staff of The Cloisters: Dr. Emmett, Emilie Harrison; Dr. Johnson, Tyler Nestvedt; Dr. James, Dylan McLaughlin; Miss Willie, Vanessa Johnson. Other Residents of the Cloisters: Alanna Dixon, Anna Godfrey, Anna Hagenow, Rachael Hagenow, Ben Siglin. Stage Manager is Katie Keenan. Tech Crew: Lauren Dunlay and Catherine Gobeli. Assistant Directors: Ashley Lapointe, Tahmyrah Lytle and Ben Siglin. Back stage crew: Ian Anderson and Rain Eckholt.