WATCH FOR AUDITIONS LATE JANUARY, 2012

"The Madwoman Of Chaillot" was written by Jean Giraudoux in 1943, during the Nazi occupation of France. After finishing it, he laid it aside, refusing to allow it to be performed during the occupation. Louis Jouvet presented the play in a free France at the Theatre de l'Athenee in 1945, after the death of Giraudoux in February of that same year. The Madwoman was Giraudoux's last play, arguably his masterpiece.

Theatre Arts Magazine described the play as… "one part fantasy, two parts reason." The New York Drama Critics' Circle hailed the 1948-50 production as, "One of the most interesting and rewarding plays to have been written within the last twenty years, pure gold, with no base metal" and having…"an enveloping and irresistible humor." It involves eccentric, rich old ladies who carry out a plot to lure evil culprits into a bottomless pit. This is done, despite their various quirky personalities due to senility and the hallucinations that accompany it, during afternoon tea. The adaptation by Maurice Valency is satiric and fanciful, a comic fantasy which is pure entertainment for the audience and a joy for those performing it.

This play, which will run for ten performances from April 14-29, 2012, introduces Playmakers audiences to yet another classic. It is great play for adolescents through adults, both audience and actors. It may not be familiar to many; it will certainly be new to most students. It will end a season of exciting plays with a big, lavish production, a marvelous challenge to the director and production team. The original play had a cast of thirty-nine characters, but that can be reduced to twenty-five, eleven of which can be young people from The Off Broadway Troupers. Of the remaining fourteen, many can be actors over fifty-five years of age. Many actors double, playing one role in the first act, another in the second act. Suzanne Boles, Artistic Director, will take up the challenge of directing this show. Since it is a big costume show requiring costumes of a specific historical period that we have few of in our costume department, Marge Chowning, period costume designer, will design the costumes and coordinate their construction. She has been a volunteer with The Playmakers since 1995, designing and constructing costumes where period authenticity is necessary.

Students in the Apprenticeship Program will, once again, work along-side adults in various production roles.