ANNA MARIA – When the curtain rises on “The Curious Savage,” by John Patrick, you have to remind yourself it’s taking place in a sanitarium called The Cloisters.
Very soon, a brightly colored red-head named Fairie May, played brilliantly by Joani Anton, will remind you with her rambling conversations and emotional outbursts. The same could be said about Mrs. Paddy, played by Susan Belvo, who hates everything and will spit out a list in long-winded soliloquies.
The attention to detail by the performers is amazing. The plot is a good one. Island Players director Kelly Wynn-Woodland has a great cast, and the play is very entertaining.
Ethel, played by Cathy Hansel-Edgerton, has the family fortune tied up in bonds and the rest of the family wants her to cash them in and give the family the money.
They have moved her to The Cloisters in an attempt to get her to tell them where the fortune is.
While she’s there, she bonds with fellow patients Hannibal, played by Ron Smith; Jeffrey, played by John Andruzzi, and staffers Miss Willie, played by Candace Artim, and Dr. Emmett, played by Dawn Burns.
The family includes Ethel’s son, Titus, played by Jim Faltot, Samuel, played by Thomas Carson, and Lily Belle, played by Jennifer Kwiatkowski. They pay her a visit, threatening her with further incarceration in the sanitarium.
In the end, the lights go out and the bonds have disappeared. What happens next is something readers will have to find out by purchasing a ticket, but hurry because the shows are selling out, just like the matinée last Sunday.
“The Curious Savage” runs through March 25. For ticket information, visit The Island Players or call 941-778-5755.
