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Who is more crazy, the inmates or those on the “outside?” Sierra Vistans are in a for a hilarious treat, complete with a wild goose chase and clever trickery when the Buena Acting Company presents “The Curious Savage” by John Patrick, this weekend at the Buena Performing Arts Center.
“Savage” has been a staple of high schools and community theatres for more than 50 years. Though set in the 50’s and usually played as a period piece, its heart-warming message is timeless.
The plot concerns the wealthy estate of Ethel Savage, who wants to use her riches for the noble purpose of spreading goodness and happiness to others so they may attain their dreams. However, her very greedy stepchildren want it all for their own selfish devices.
Therefore, they have her committed to The Cloisters, a kind of sanitarium where they hope she will come to her senses.
  
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It is in this institution that Ethel befriends a variety of social misfits, who endear themselves to her and become her friends. With their help, she leads her children (and the audience) on a romp full of shenanigans where they eventually learn that kindness and honesty can still exist in a society where all too often avarice and deception is the norm.
It is these characters that are most memorable as they live their zany lives to the fullest within the walls of their confinement.
Playwright and screenwriter John Patrick lived and intriguing life. Born in 1905 in Louisville, Ky., he spent most of his youth as a juvenile delinquent after he was abandoned by his parents when he was very young. During this time he lived mostly in foster homes.
At age 19, Patrick landed his first job as a radio announcer in San Francisco. It was here that he began to write scripts that eventually led him to NBC, where he wrote more than 1,000 radio scripts for various shows.
His first Broadway play “Hell Freezes Over” (1935) was short-lived, but it gained him the opportunity to become a Hollywood scriptwriter.
He continued to write during WWII, where he served with Montgomery in Egypt, India, and Burma. It was in the service that he was inspired to write “A Hasty Heart,” which he completed after the war. His first financially successful play, it was then adapted for the screen 1949 and eventually for television in 1983.
“The Curious Savage” was first produced on Broadway in 1950 and was followed by many plays and screenplays. Patrick is, perhaps, most known for his many successful screenplays. Familiar titles include “Three Coins in a Fountain,” “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” and “Teahouse of the August Moon,” for which he won a Pulitzer Prize.
John Patrick was presented with the William Inge Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre before he died in 1995.
Buena’s production is directed by drama instructor Carrie Duerk and assisted by Miranda Dvorak.
“The Curious Savage” will be presented at the Buena Performing Arts Center Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the box office the evenings of the performance. Box office opens at 6:15; doors open at 6:30 p.m.
This play is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service.
Christina Morales wrote on Oct 9, 2007 3:17 PM: