Performed: December 2022 at the Bush Theatre, Nimbin
and at the Star Court Theatre, Lismore.

The Curious Savage, written by American playwright John Patrick and first performed in 1950, recounts how an elderly widow (Ethel P. Savage) disposes of the $10 million fortune her husband has left her.

She plans to establish a foundation to give away her fortune to people who wish to pursue their “foolish dreams”. Her stepchildren, though, have other ideas. To stop her from doing away with their family wealth and ruining their legacy, they commit her to a sanatorium called The Cloisters, and it is there, among its kindly residents that she finds a real family.

The Curious Savage is a heart-warming comedy that contrasts the kindness and loyalty of psychiatric patients in the sanatorium with the calculating greed of so-called “respectable people”.

Nimbin Theatre Troupe localised some of the language to Australia, and some of the references to Nimbin and the region, as 1950s middle America is now quite exotic, especially to a young Nimbin audience.

Again there was a very warm reception for this play, proving that the Troupe is right to trust the audience to appreciate sophisticated theatre.

This was the first piece of theatre for some time in the whole region, as Australia emerged from strict COVID lockdowns, so the depiction of inmates locked(?) in a sanatorium carried a lot of emotional resonance.

Following packed performances at the Nimbin Bush Theatre, the Troupe went on to bring this production to the 350-seat Star Court Theatre in the city of Lismore – a larger stage and fabulous lighting brought the production up to another level.