The Curious Savage - Play Review

The Curious Savage by John Patrick started off with an interesting, motley looking group of characters. As an audience member, one was not sure whether the people were insane or whether you just didn't understand anything. As the scene goes on however you find out that it is indeed an insane asylum. 

It was clear that a lot of work had gone into making this play, and the acting was superb. It had a nice storyline but some of the dialogue wasn't quite as fluid as it could have been and a lot of the lines intending to be humorous sounded more forced than funny. It seemed like John Patrick wanted the play to be written in a way to be lighthearted but still touch upon deeper issues, and it fell just a little short of that. The plot was cute and the play did have its moments. It started a little rough but by the end of the second act, one was probably quite curious to find out what would be the final outcome. 

Some of the characters were lovable but their goofy and supposed-to-be lovable personalities also seemed a little forced. Most were too quirky to actually be able to relate to. Like previously stated there was a somewhat forced feeling behind the scenes. Each character seemed to be a caricature of a caricature. It was sort of like trying too hard. Which is bad just on the other side of the spectrum.

For example, one of the patients, Fairy May, was a young, plain looking girl who thought she was beautiful and was also quite, well, crazy. Ruby Keutzer who played Fairy, did an excellent job of portraying her, however all of her lines seemed to go just a little far in trying to show how a "crazy" girl would act.

The main character, the "mother," Mrs. Savage was played excellently by Sonia Goldberg, and she acted exactly like how a quirky old lady would act. That is because in the script they wanted her shown as LESS crazy than the actual crazy patients. Thus making her the "normal" amount of crazy.

The Curious Savage did make some good points and there was a little bit of wisdom, but yet again the wisdom was more forced sounding that natural. And the quirkiness of the wisdom was such that it was clear who ever came up with said wisdom was trying really hard to be quirky. Some of it though, when not trying too hard to be clever or cute, was actually really deep and kind of bittersweet. When Ms. Savage wanted to stay at the asylum because she saw how content all the patients were, the doctor replies to her, “Don’t be fooled by the illusion of contentment. Make peace with your loneliness.” If only the play had had more lines and moments like that it might have been a little deeper and better for older audience members.

An older audience member would catch all the dirty jokes, and a younger one would probably appreciate the overall plot much more. Compared to some of the previous shows put on by the Young Company this wasn't as superb as they normally are. However, that is not to say that it wasn't still good. 

The very last scene was so beautiful and poignant, in my mind it made up for any other faults the play might have had. It showed all the mental patients as they saw themselves. The setting and how it all happened was very sweet. I'm sure that very few eyes in the theatre were dry by then. Just that ending which wrapped up everything so very nicely was terrific. A great ending is what truly sticks with us after all, and being the very last thing that one sees makes it the most memorable, and memorable it was. Overall I'd give this show a 7/10. 

Reflections on Sophistication

This story might have seemed silly and simple to someone from a quick read through but if you delve deeper you will see that it actually goes through some deeper issues. It was about love, a first love, and how complete that can make someone feel. It was a pretty cute story, but at the same time had profound moments like how you're all alone in the world yet at the same time you're together with someone who fully understands you. Personally, I didn't like the story very much, I thought that the boy and girl couldn't REALLY love each other because they didn't know each other that well. It was only through mutual attraction, and the fact that they didn't really know anybody else.

Reflections on Winter Dreams

I liked this story better than Sophistication. While some of the characters in the story did annoy me the actual premise of the story is very interesting. A quote I was thinking of while reading the story was "you accept the love you think you deserve." And that was exactly what happened to Judy. I actually didn't blame Judy for being the way she was. She had always been beautiful and rich and therefore had always been treated as the beautiful rich girl. She didn't know any better. And so when she finally found an abusive husband at the end, this didn't surprise me at all. As for Dexter, he could have always said no. His lame excuse for leaving what would have been a very good girl for him was almost the same (although in a completely different circumstance) as a rapist blaming the girl for "asking for it" and that he "couldn't help it" because she was so beautiful or whatever. So in actuality, Dexter annoys me far more than Judy.

Reflections on The Bear

While I don't think that killing a bear automatically makes a boy a man, I do see how they would have thought that. And also it was a totally different culture and time than it is now. The ending was very touching and that was my favorite part and made up for anything I otherwise wouldn't have liked about the story.  It was a pretty sad story though especially how they die on the hunts, and the only one of the short stories we've read so far where someone dies. 

How to be Stevie Nicks

This was a very interesting Ted Talk given by a girl named Tavi who is only a sophomore in high school at OPRF. She started a website for girls so that we could empower ourselves. She stated that being a girl was confusing and we should accept that. So the fact that her speech was a little confusing fit perfectly with her theme. I thought the way she presented was creative, instead of using slides, so she could make herself be more "real." I liked her ideas on being yourself and staying true to yourself. She seemed to really care about what she was talking about, and I like how she didn't read off her slides, and didn't seem to have a speech written, which made it seem more natural. She was basically saying girls aren't one dimensional, and we shouldn't be expected to be no matter what the media says other wise. I really liked the fact that she wants us all to model ourselves after Stevie Nicks. Stevie is an amazing musician and I wish I could be her. 

Mathemagic

How can I put this bluntly? I thought that guy was lame. Yes, it was cool that he can square large numbers in his head really quickly. Bottom line though, who cares? Not me. He should be using his mathematical talents for things that actually matter, like engineering or something, not to wow an audience that didn't even notice when he made a mistake. Maybe I'm unimpressed because I know people who can do that, but for the most part I really just didn't care.

Best and Worst New Inventions

TOP 3:
Glove-friendly touch screens

Everyone likes to text while walking outside, no matter what the weather is. It is highly appealing to be able to text and use apps on your smart phone while wearing gloves. This invention for the smart phone (if it works really well) will definitely take off, and possibly be the norm.

GPS-enabled walking stick

Not every new invention has to be geared for the younger generation. It would be nice if older people who needed assistance walking could now also know that with their handy cane with a GPA built in. This invention would be appealing to both the younger generation and the older generation.

Bio-metric Security phone

It would be nice to know that someone can't get into your phone just by guessing your passcode, or looking over your shoulder. Not only would this be great against sneaky friends and mothers, if your phone is stolen basically nobody can get into it and take your information except you.

Robotic balls

Balls are for little children to play with. A little kid is practically in heaven in an old giant cardboard box. Why some parents would be stupid enough to spend hundreds of dollars on a toy that would probably break instead of a nice basketball, is beyond me. 

Double Touchscreen sided phone

A person doesn't need a double sided phone. If they're looking at one side of the phone, they're obviously not looking at the other side, and what's the point of it being there if they're not even going to look at it? The phone companies should spend more time improving the one sided phone before they begin this journey.

Nokia call phone with 35 day of battery life

Yay, the indestructible phone now also holds it's charge forever. Somebody who is away from a place where they can charge their phone for more than a week probably has more problems on their mind then making sure their phone doesn't die.

J. K. Rolling and the Failure Speech

J.K. Rolling's commencement speech was a wonderful speech in my opinion. Contrary to what she implied at the very start about how no one would remember what was said, I believe that very few people will forget. The speech itself, while full of jokes and Harry Potter references, went on a much deeper level; not to mention sharing some very personal stories and talking about tough issues. Talking about failure and all the hardships that come with it will probably impact the graduates more than they probably thought a commencement speech ever could. It doesn't hurt to add that the speech was given by one of the most influential and magical authors alive.