MadWoman of Chaillot

Many of our loyal, long time supporters will remember that they have experienced The Madwoman of Chaillot with su before. Indeed, it is the only play in our history that we have mounted three times. First produced 1974, it was later presented as our last play in residence at Fischer Hall in 1984. Now twenty years later, we thought it was time to explore the streets of Chaillot once again. Where each of these productions may appear quite different, the heart of the play must still ring true. In the turbulent times in which we live, The Madwoman of Chaillot helps us to celebrate the small beauties of life, those simply joyous details that help us find the energy to embrace life, even in the darker moments.

In a time not unlike our own, a community of vagabonds and “madwomen” conspire to save Paris from the diabolical machinations of a group of entrepreneurs who plan to destroy the city, and civilization if necessary, for the oil that lies beneath. Out of the mouth of fools come the words that might just save the world. Will anyone listen? Wisdom is often found where one might least expect it.

In his book, Feast of Fools, Harvey Cox suggests that one of the most debilitating problems of our culture is that we have lost our ability to celebrate our lives. “While gaining the whole world man has been losing his pwn soul. He has purchased prosperity at the cost of a staggering impoverishment of the vital elements of his life.”

These elements are festivity and fantasy.

Festivity refers to our ability to celebrate our past in the context of the present. In so doing it allows us to gain the necessary strength and excitement to envision the future. Man’s openness to a really new future is dependent on this capacity for fantasy. This advanced imaging helps us suspend the whole structure of everyday “reality”. We let ourselves soar and find a way to commit to the “what if…” 

In Chaillot, we celebrate our deep humanness, affirm our full potential and move out into our lives with a sense of joy and empowerment. Take this vision with you into the streets as you leave. “Nothing is ever so wrong in this world that a sensible woman can’t set it right in the course of an afternoon!”

If I know nothing, except what everyone knows — 

If there when Grace dances, I should dance

-W.H. Auden