Life Lessons: 'The Curious Savage' opens Thursday, Nov. 5

What would you do with $200 million?

It was Michael Douglas' character Gordon Grekko in the movie, "Wall Street," that coined the phrase, "Greed is good." Greed is the fuel hat drives the plot in the comedy, "The Curious Savage," opening Thursday night at the Peace Center in Hutchinson.

Ethel Savage played by Mary Haugen, is the second wife of multimillionaire Jonathan Savage, one of the wealthiest men in America. With marriage to Jonathan came his three children — Samuel (Malon Wareing), Titus (Allan Reed) and Lily Belle (Sonja Johnson).

When Jonathan dies and leaves his wife, Ethel, as the sole heir of his fortune, his adult children sharpen their knives for what they believe is rightfully their own — his money. Ethel, however, proves to be independent in her thinking, so he stepchildren chuck her into The Cloisters, a private sanitarium. At the sanitarium, Ethel forms a friendship with the other patients — Florence (Rhoda Hubbard-Anderson), Hannibal (Michael Martin), Fairy May (Maureen Style), Jeffrey (Joe Ruskamp) and Mrs. Paddy (Lori Thull). Caring for them is Ms. Willie, a nurse, (Crystal Rourke) and Dr. Emmett (Steven Palmer). 

The plot pivots on such human traits as regret, desire and geed. In this case, the catalyst is the $200 million Savage fortune. Who has it? Who deserves it? And, who demands it?

The play will be performed Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 5-7, and Nov. 12-14, at the Peace Center of Peace Lutheran Church, 400 Franklin St. S.W., Hutchinson. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dinner served at 6 p.m. with the show at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 each and can be purchased at the Chamber office, Clay Coyote or online at www.hutchtheatre.org. For more information, call Betsy Price at (320) 587-2599.

To read more, see the complete story in the print edition of the Hutchinson Leader for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009.

(Kay Johnson is a staff writer at the Leader. She can be reached at johnson@hutchinsonleader.com.)