Event

The Curious Savage

Eden Prairie Players's winter Play is The Curious Savage by John Patrick directed by Lori Alsdurf.

Mrs. Ethel Savage has been left ten million dollars by her husband and wants to make the best use of it, in spite of her grown-up stepchildren's efforts to get their hands on it. Knowing that the widow's wealth is now in negotiable securities, and seeing they cannot get hold of the fortune, the stepchildren commit her to a sanatorium hoping to "bring her to her senses." In the sanatorium Mrs. Savage meets various social misfits, men and women who just cannot adjust themselves to life. In getting to know them, she realizes that she can find happiness with them and resigns herself to spending the rest of her life as one of them. But when the doctor tells her there is no reason why she should remain, she hesitates to go out into a hard world where people seem ready to do anything for money. The self-seeking stepchildren are driven to distraction by their vain efforts to browbeat Mrs. Savage, while she leads them on a merry chase for the hidden bonds.

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 at times motivated only by greed and dishonesty.