Theatre Review: The Curious Savage

There are certain things that I would not recommend, on pain of conscience. The community at large would probably not enjoy a dance recital that features two hours of seven-year-olds skipping in a circle. Nor would I recommend that you go to an elementary school band recital unless you are interested in hearing a particular student. No matter how adorable we parents think our children are, most of their performances would be—for the general public—a form of  torture rather than the enchanting evening that we parents believe we’re enjoying.

Not so with the Darien High School Theatre 308’s performance of The Curious Savage by John Patrick.

Since my children are still young, I went to opening night on behalf of Patch with an indulgent attitude, filled with pre-determined tolerance and admiration for the pluck of the amateurs I was about to witness.

It started with the posters. We all have access to modern technology, Photoshop and whatnot, but the posters were curiously professional looking. You wouldn’t have been surprised to see them stapled up all over a wall in New York City. And these were designed by a student? (Positively talented Paris LaRock, who also acts in the play.)

Then the program: a thick book printed on quality paper; the same beautiful graphics; the usual Playbill advertisements and participant bios. And the bios: endless credits for these young actors and stagehands.

I walked into the theatre to hear Irving Berlin’s song “Cheek to Cheek,” sung by Fred Astaire. The one that begins “Heaven, I’m in heaven.” This set the mood. I had entered a different era, and while enjoying the song I examined the stage set, the entirety of which was visible to the audience.

I thought, I’d like to live in that set. It was a lovely large room, with couches, tables, a grand piano, lovely peach walls, windows, and solid wood doors. Paintings and mirrors were on the wall. Master Carpenter Lee Strecker, who is a technology teacher at DHS, and his group of numerous set crew students, headed up by Luke Hill, had created an astonishing home.

I settled into my seat. The auditorium contributed to the illusion that this was a Broadway show. It is fresh and, shall I say it again, professional. The plush seats are staggered so there’s no bad view in the house. Tiers of seats and balconies create a Broadway feel, and the lighting and sound system are deluxe.

Once I could pull my dumbstruck eyes away from the set, I examined my program. Director Nancy A. Herman had written that I was about to enjoy a classic drawing-room comedy:

"What fun we have had with the genre, playing with timing and line delivery, exploring text and sub-text; searching out physical and vocal ways to express the humor that we found in the text!”

All of the action, she explained, would take place in the one set.

The Curious Savage was first performed in New York in 1950. It takes place in a sort of asylum, for people who aren’t quite insane.

As playwright John Patrick explains in a forward to his 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. Any exaggeration of the roles will rob them of charm and humor. The whole point of the play is to contrast them with Mrs. Savage's children and the insane outside world. To depart from this point of view for the sake of easy laughs will rob the play of its meaning."

And our DHS kids honored Patrick’s intentions to the letter. The play was, again, curiously professional. Being a drawing-room comedy, it was very wordy. I worried for the “kids.” How do they remember all those words? How do they not slip on the cards being thrown all over the place? But the actors never slipped, in any way.

It is hard for me to single out any one of these eleven talented actors without feeling like I’m snubbing one of the other talented actors.

The main character, an aging woman with blue hair named Mrs. Ethel Savage, is played with verisimilitude and charm by Elizabeth Leimkuhler. Her performance is remarkable.

The rest of the “inmates” are played with sympathy and humor by the youthful cast, just as the author intended. Caroline Vilter shines as Fairy Mae; Marin Amyotte plays Florence with pathos; Reed Morgan is funny as the musically-inept but well meaning Hannibal, and Robbie Florian is a true gentleman as Jeffrey. Mrs. Paddy, played by Gabby Acquaviva, had perhaps the least amount of lines, but every time she spoke she shone. All she had to do was shake and nod her head, and the audience laughed.

And the Savage family siblings were played with appropriate viciousness by Max Hanau, Paris LaRock and Alex Rankine. Kenny Weiss and Abby Leinroth rounded out the cast as the doctor and the pivotal character Mrs. Willy.

During the performance, I found myself thinking about the actors. They’re awfully good, I thought. Awfully tall, some of them. I scrutinized the actors to make sure they hadn’t brought any ringers in from Broadway. The makeup and costumes and lighting were also all exceedingly, suspiciously good.

The one thing that made me think that perhaps this really was a group of high school kids was the bios in the program. Almost all of them begin with some kind of hyperbole: the participants were euphoric, elated, overzealous, electrified, thrilled, overjoyed, absolutely ecstatic, very excited, and overflowing with enthusiasm to be a part of the play. Many of them ended their bios with “Break a leg!” It was as if the students had conspired on their bios, making them congruous and disingenuously silly.

As it entertains, the play makes a point about ethics and morality, avoiding cloying moral superiority by throwing in humorous zingers, most of which are delivered by Leimkuhler as Mrs. Savage. The audience spent a lot of time erupting in laughter, sometimes even to the point of stepping on the cast member’s lines. They might have to slow down a tad to accommodate the enthusiasm of the audience.

And a surprise at the end...a startling and unexpected poignancy overtakes the comedy. Whether you are a parent, or a supportive friend, or an outsider like me, you feel a welling of emotion at this humanity so deftly portrayed.

No matter who you are, I recommend that you see and enjoy The Curious Savage. It's curiously good.

Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19—21 at 8 p.m. at the Darien High School auditorium. Tickets are priced at $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and are available for sale at Barrett Bookstore and at the door.