By Kaya Patel ‘22, Editor-in-Chief

Image Courtesy of Mr. Worrell

On November 4th, The Curious Savage opened as the first indoor performance at NA in nearly two years and the first to be performed in the newly renovated Coraci Performance Hall. After a year of virtual rehearsals and streamed Youtube performances, both the actors and the NA community were thrilled for the fall drama’s return to the stage. 

The Curious Savage follows Ethel P. Savage (Meredith Janay ‘22) whose husband recently passed and left her with ten million dollars. Mrs. Savage desires to create a memorial fund with her husband’s inheritance bonds to allow ordinary people to fulfill their “foolish” and unrealistic dreams. However, her three entitled stepchildren (Elena Koestel ‘23, Ben Glickman ‘23, and Jamie Foerst ‘25) deem her behavior to be “eccentric” and place her in a medical facility known as “The Cloisters.” In response, she sends her stepchildren on outlandish adventures to find where she hid her bonds, only for them to find out that she deceived them and had the bonds with her in a stuffed bear the entire time. 

Although Mrs. Savage is unwillingly sent to the sanatorium by her family, she finds a community of welcoming residents who challenge her perspective of the world and bring her a new sense of joy after her husband’s death. Fairy May (Lucy Alaeto ‘22) is a girl who exaggerates the truth and constantly seeks attention and affirmation from the other residents. Jeff (Spencer Nowak ‘22) suffers from war trauma that inhibits him from returning to his work as a concert pianist. Hannibal (Evan Samaro ‘23) is a former statistician who believes that he is a gifted violinist despite having no talent. Florence (Yasmeena Sharif ‘23) denies her son’s death by taking care of a doll as her child. Lastly, Mrs. Paddy (Abby Neate ‘23) is a woman who only responds to questions in the form of a list of everything she hates. Through their compassion and generosity, Mrs. Savage sees beyond what others think of the Cloisters and finds family in a place where she least expected it. 

The Curious Savage exhibits the lightheartedness of a comedy but also reveals important lessons about love, community, and what it means to be human. In the director’s note, Mrs. Shapiro Cooper writes, “Laughter would be our medicine, but all comedy is centered around truth, and truthfulness holds moments of reflection as well… Often as a society we reach for things outside of ourselves to brighten us, but this play reckons with the nitty gritty of that construct and leaves us all with questions to ponder.” Lead actress Meredith Janay adds, “Throughout The Curious Savage there is much talk of what it means to be foolish. The central takeaway of the play is that there is power in being a fool of good heart: gambling on people, investing in kindness, and wanting to do what you love because you love it.” The Cloisters all appear to be flawed characters because they see themselves as people that they could never be, but Mrs. Savage realizes that at the end of the day, they are no different from the rest of us. Just like everyone else, their eccentricities are a part of their unique identity that makes them who they are. Meredith concludes, “This view of life may appear foolish, but in reality the Cloisters are the kindest, most accepting people in the room, and that is what The Curious Savage is about.”

The Curious Savage served as a perfect opening for what feels like a return to normalcy in the NA performing arts. Meredith says, “It was amazing to perform live again. To be able to have reactions from a live audience, from laughter to tears, was incredible. There is nothing quite like doing what you love for people you care about, and that is exactly what we got to do.”