An entertaining and fanciful comedy about Ethel Savage and her peculiar life.
The Story
The Curious Savage is the story of an elderly widow named Mrs. Ethel Savage, whose husband has left her $10 million dollars. She intends to give the entire fortune away to people who wish to pursue their “foolish dreams,” but her stepchildren strongly object. To prevent her from doing away with their family’s wealth and ruining their legacy, they have her committed to a sanatorium called The Cloisters, and it is among the gentle residents there that she finds her true family.
The Curious Savage is a warm comedy that compares the kindness and loyalty of psychiatric patients with the greed and hostility of so-called “normal people.”
The Curious Savage is a warm comedy that compares the kindness and loyalty of psychiatric patients with the greed and hostility of so-called “normal people.”
Production Details
Performance Dates:
October 7-9, 2021
7:00 p.m. in TFK Theatre
October 7-9, 2021
7:00 p.m. in TFK Theatre
Cast of Characters
Meet the Savages
Christine Crouch as Mrs. Ethel P. Savage: Referred to as "Mrs. Savage" for the majority of the play, she is a witty, kindhearted, blue haired woman who always carry around a teddy bear. The events of the play are centered around her and her decision to hide the money which she has inherited from her late husband from her greedy stepchildren, to give away to those less fortunate or to fulfill others' random, yet important lifelong dreams. She dislikes her stepchildren, but learns to love the residents of The Cloisters, accepting their own realities and delusions with an open-mindedness that others on the outside do not. She is peculiar yet still maintains an accurate perception of herself and of the world around her.
- Alex Snell as Titus: He is the eldest step-son of Mrs. Savage. He is aristocratic, stuck-up, and greedy, just like his other siblings. He looks upon the inmates in The Cloisters with scorn and disgust, and always acts very pompously. He has been sent so many threatening letters that he is listed by Western Union as a "tangible asset"; Titus is the least popular senator in congress. He is sober, humorless, and direct. Titus also has a temper that tends to come out most when dealing with his mother. He is disrespectful to everyone around him, including his brother and sister.
- Allesandra Garofalo as Lily Belle: Lily Belle, the middle step-child, was once married to a Slovak prince, and has remarried five times since then. A celebrity heiress, she is arrogant, chic, and self-assured. She is also very selfish and is constantly putting forth the effort to make sure others are respecting her. When Lily Belle first met Ethel, she bit her new stepmother's finger and has promptly been just as vicious ever since. Lily Belle is stubborn, stuck-up, and very materialistic. She is rumored to sleep wearing a tiara.
- Cain Ingram as Samuel: The second youngest step child of Ethel, Samuel has the distinction of being the judge with the most overturned decisions in the U.S. He walks in the shadows of his siblings, offering a sassy, short comment every once in a while, only to be shot down. He is less pretentious than his other siblings and seems to have the least power among the Savage stepchildren, except for his younger brother.
- Shawn Hepola as Jonathan Savage Jr.: The youngest step child of Ethel, Knowing he was an heir to a fortune,Jonathan choose a different career path. He became a college professor. Now, with his inheritance in jeopardy, he is becoming concerned about his financial stability. He, too, is less pretentious than his other siblings and seems to have the least power among the Savage stepchildren.
Meet the Residents of The CloistersI
- Sage Wilson as Fairy May: (early 20s) Fairy is a compulsive liar who is obsessed with having others love her. She is unkempt throughout the play, but believes herself to be stunningly beautiful. She is also very childlike, behaving and speaking in the tone of a six-year-old. Her energy and lighthearted attitude are always amusing but sometimes annoying. She is a compulsive liar, inventing fantastical stories about her childhood that are clearly not veracious.
- Daisy Williams as Florence Williams: (20s-40s) The elegant "mother" of The Cloisters, she believes she has a five-year-old son named John Thomas; in fact, John Thomas is a doll. During Mrs. Savage's stay at The Cloisters, Florence believes that John Thomas has the measles. She is polite and kind to everyone, making sure to always have proper etiquette. She is a mother figure for Fairy at The Cloisters.
- Coen Vogel as Jeffrey: (20s-30s) Once a military pilot, Jeff was shot down in the war, surviving a crash that killed all his men. He now believes that he has a scar on his face, which he constantly hides from others. He plays the piano, but is too shy to do so around other people. His more quiet and reserved than the other inmates, but possesses a maturity that surpasses his age (about 25). He is also married to Miss Willie, but does not remember that he is, due to the crash. Miss Willie works at the Cloisters in the hopes that one day her Jeffrey will remember her.
Drew Comstock as Hannibal: (20s-40s) Hannibal, once a gifted mathematician and statistician, was fired and replaced by an electronic calculator. He often obsesses on math related topics and such things as the placement of body parts. He has then taken up the violin, which he wrongly believes he can play beautifully. He is a kind man with a vast array of knowledge stored in his sometimes sarcastic head.
- Mason Ligon as Mrs. Paddy: (40s-50s) Mrs. Paddy paints with the quality of Hannibal's violin playing. She paints only seascapes, which strikes Hannibal as "odd, because she's never seen the ocean." The other patients say that Mrs. Paddy stopped talking when her husband told her to "shut up" one day, and she hasn't spoken since. She only speaks to announce what she hates. She hates "everything in the world." Her main lines are lists of random things she hates, strung together loosely alphabetically. Her tirades are ignored by the other characters. She has given up electricity for Lent and turns off all the lights multiple times throughout the play, causing mayhem. Mrs. Paddy is a middle-aged woman of "awesome ferocity" and often comes across as vicious and stubborn. At the end of the play we see Mrs. Paddy's true side.
Meet the Staff of The Cloisters
- Samuel Pharris as Dr. Emmett: The staff doctor for this wing of The Cloisters, Dr. Emmett is kind, warmhearted, and works hard to help the patients. She/he is rational and calm thinking, treating every situation with composure and sensibility. Dr. Emmett is the voice of reason in the sanitarium, genuinely caring about the inmates and wanting them to enjoy their stay at The Cloisters.
Kyanne Galbraith as Miss "Willie" Wilhelmina: Miss Willie is an administrative assistant and nurse. She is married to Jeff, but struggles to pretend not to be because he doesn't remember her. She occasionally calls Jeff her pet name "Bingo." He is the reason she is working here, but she is nonetheless extremely kind and understanding towards all the residents of The Cloisters. She is compassionate and treats all of the inmates with warmth and respect despite her frustrations.