It’s a play whose story, however absurd, is not out of place during Earth Week.
Mix the rapacious thirst for oil with themes of greed and environmental ruin. Then, add an occasional burst of absurdist comedy, and you’ll have the makings of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Theatre Department’s The Madwoman of Chaillot, which opens April 24 and runs through April 28. The play concludes the department’s 2012-13 Saving the World from Sanity season.
“I think the audience is going to laugh and look at lot of the comments and have it all sit in the back of their heads, and on the drive home they are going to be like, ‘Wait a second; that’s actually some pretty deep stuff,'” said Brian Markovich, who will portray the role of the “ragpicker” in the production.
The play is billed by the Theatre Department as a “comic fable” that “teaches and warns of the destructive forces of greed and disregard for humanity while exploring the idea of ‘mad’ as crazy, as angry and as the ultimate sanity.”
Its student actors said the chance to work with a large cast and explore the oddities and the comedy of the story and characters was a treat and incredible learning experience under director and UW Oshkosh Theatre faculty member and chair Merlaine Angwall.
Here are a few members of the cast sharing a bit about the story and themes within the play written by Jean Girauxdoux…
Learn more: