‘Curious Savage’ pokes fun at greed

Le Petit Theatre de Terrebonne (7829 Main St. in Houma) is about nothing if not consistency.

“The Curious Savage,” John Patrick’s 1950 light comedy about a wealthy woman named Mrs. Savage who is institutionalized by her greedy relatives, was first staged by Le Petit during the late 1950s.

“Savage” was reprised by the theatre in 1986, with Linda Schexnayder producing, Ouida Best directing, Jeanne Scott starring in the title role, and Edwina Yakupzack playing the role of Mrs. Paddy, one of five residents of the home who befriend Mrs. Savage.

The theatre is staging the play again as the second offering of its 2007-2008 season, this time with – surprise – Schexnayder producing, Best directing, Scott starring, and Yakupzak playing Mrs. Paddy.

And if that isn’t enough consistency for you, Yakupzak also played Mrs. Paddy in Le Petit’s first production in the 1950s.

The presence of these veterans means that “Savage” is certain to get a surehanded treatment when the play runs at Le Petit Thursday, Sept. 13, to Saturday, Sept. 15, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m.; Tuesday, Sept. 18, to Friday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Schexnayder’s initial involvement with Le Petit as a producer was for “George Washington Slept Here” in 1986, which was also directed by her. She has been busy this year, acting in the final two plays of the theatre’s 2006-07 season, Noel Coward’s “Waiting in the Wings” and the farcical “Home Free.”

Scott, another veteran Le Petit actress, played in “Wings” and was the co-producer of the P.S. Production’s staging of “Beauty and the Beast” in 2007.

Best’s first directing stint with Le Petit came over 20 years ago with “Dracula.” She also starred in “Wings,” and most recently directed “Savage” cast member Paul Labat in A.R Gurney’s “Later Life.” Her favorite play of the ones she has directed for Le Petit, however, was in 1990 when she helmed “The Boys Next Door.”

Yakupzack played the lead in Le Petit’s production of “Candlelight” in 1955, the theatre’s first active year following World War II and the Korean War. She was involved with two big Le Petit productions of “Guys and Dolls,” playing Adelaide in an early 1960s staging, and then directing the musical using a cast of 39 members earlier this decade.

Yakupzack has directed numerous plays for Le Petit, including, most recently, “Wings.” Her first directing stint with the theatre came when she did Lillian Hellman’s biting “The Little Foxes” in 1960.

“The Curious Savage” brings Best and Yakupzack full circle, in a way.

“The Boys Next Door” was about four mentally disabled men living in a group home, and their struggle for acceptance. “The Little Foxes” was an examination of intrafamilial greed.

Both themes dominate “The Curious Savage.”

Mrs. Savage possesses millions, but is intent on donating the money to frivolous causes, at least in the eyes of her children Senator Titus Savage (Labat), Judge Samuel Savage (Joel Waldron), and Lily Belle (“Wings'” Gayle Walters).

After placing her in the sanatorium, they discover that the money has been concealed.

The family is incredulous, and schemes to find the stash.

Most of the poignancy in “Savage” stems from Mrs. Savage’s interaction with five of the sanatorium’s residents.

Florence (Patti Loupe, most recently seen in SoLA’s “Death Always Comes in Threes”) substitutes a stuffed animal for a child she lost; Hannibal (Mike Brossette) is an innocent who believes he is a concert caliber violinist.

Fairy Mae (Cammie Ellender), with only a thin grasp of reality, is a character reminiscent of Ophelia in “Hamlet.”

Jeffrey (Colin Plaisance) is under the delusion that his face was horribly scarred in combat, when, in fact, he is the “handsomest” of the residents, according to staff member, Miss Willie (“Home Free’s” Susan Foret).

Yakupzack’s Mrs. Paddy refuses to talk, except to blurt out lengthy lists of things she despises, while Steve Duplantis, as the resident psychiatrist Dr. Emmett, rounds out the cast.

Despite these somber-sounding character descriptions, “Savage” has been rightly described as a “gentle” comedy.

Best called the play “a comedy and a drama.” Schexnayder said, “The audience reaction is real heartfelt. It’s not laugh-out loud funny.”

The residents of the home “are eccentric in their own way,” she said, “but are true to themselves.”

“The characters live in a different reality,” Best said.

Careful not reveal too much about the ending, Best did offer this: “The heroine (Mrs. Savage) wins in the end.”

Patrick’s best-known play is “The Teahouse of the August Moon,” which won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony, and which became a movie starring Marlon Brando. He followed up “The Curious Savage” in 1972 with “The Savage Dilemma,” in which Mrs. Savage turns the tables on a pair of early 1970s hippies aiming to rob her.