`Madwoman of Chaillot': Actors help faults in script
Most of the time it is an amusement, or at least a diversion, to watch the over-enthusiastic elements in our society attempt to set the world "right." Indeed, for many of us, this is what the political process has become -- a comical song-and-dance routine in which the crusaders are elephants and donkeys and where the wrongs are rights for one animal and vice versa. However, sometimes this whole idea of "fixing things the way they oughta be" gets to be just a pain, a broken record of societal proportions.
This, unfortunately, is where The Madwoman of Chaillot , by Jean Giradoux, picks up the torch. Diagnosing the ills of French society, Giradoux sets out to tackle the difficult issues of class distinction, individual verses societal will and even modern-day financial planning in his all-too-complicated Madwoman .
The story opens in a Parisian cafe with interactions among a cast of stereotypes. Thrown together in the mix are the self-centered and powerful bourgeoisie, the servile and nerve-racked table staff and, of course, a string of solicitors selling anything from posies to podiatry. In this opening scene, Giradoux's design is to set the stage for his main points about the pervasiveness and destructive nature of greed and pride in society. He juxtaposes the vagabonds and nabobs of his Paris in this intimate setting to establish a sense of conflict, a feeling that things are not the way they're supposed to be.
The plot develops around the scheme on the part of the vagabonds to do away with the "evil" elements of society that are daily transforming their world into something unrecognizable and unsettling. The Countess Aurelia, the play's madwoman of sorts, leads the fight for the return of joy and happiness to the world by resolving that the bourgeois elements in their society should be thrown down a bottomless pit which, of course, is conveniently located in her cellar. One by one, the different components of the "machine" that is, in effect, societal influence, march down the stairs to meet their doom in an eternal consequence of their own avarice.
Of course, throughout this journey, Giradoux has ample time to showcase his societal temperaments and despite their blatant political one-sidedness, many of his quippy associations and allusions are actually quite witty and incisive. At one point, the token streetwise sister, Rag-picker (played remarkably well by Kelli Cousins), observes that all the members of the bourgeois capitalistic machine are called "Mr. President."
The Rice Players do make an earnest attempt to liven up this complex and ambitious script with injections of their own techniques. Of particular note is the production's emphasis on some of the more light-hearted and free-wheeling elements of theater. Off-the-wall make-up and costuming initiatives give the Rice production an honest singularity that might be lost in other, more self-absorbed companies.
Also, the outstanding and dizzyingly dynamic performances of Elizabeth Oehler (the Countess) and David Chang (the Prospector)break up the monotony of social commentary that tends to plague Madwoman . Delivering one-liners like, "There's nothing ever so wrong with the world that a woman can't fix in an afternoon," Oehler's Countess is a fairy-tale momma with attitude.
However, despite its fairy-tale plot and use of magical incantations and bottomless pits, this work of Giradoux can't help being a non-stop critique-a-thon of the world and institutions around us. It would be different (and more entertaining) if the storyline were aided by, instead of depending upon, all the shrewd social criticism.
Unfortunately, Giradoux doesn't choose this option.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the October 4, 1996 issue.
Copyright © 1996 The Rice Thresher. All Rights
Reserved.
This document may be distributed
electronically, provided that it is distributed in its
entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted
without the express written permission of:
The Rice Thresher, Rice University, 6100 Main, Houston, TX 77005-1892, USA.
The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu