adapted by Maurice Valency from the French, La Folle de Chaillot, by Jean Giraudoux
Strollers Theater @ the Bartell
113 E mifflin St.
Madison, WI
Directed by Sam D. White
The play is set in the Café de l’Alma in the Chaillot district of Paris. It is said that Molière, Racine, and La Fontaine used to frequent this café. But these days a group of corrupt corporate executives are meeting. They include the Prospector, the President, and the Baron, and they are planning to dig up Paris to get at the oil which they believe lies beneath its streets. Their nefarious plans come to the attention of Countess Aurelia, the benignly eccentric madwoman of the title. She is an aging idealist who sees the world as happy and beautiful. But, advised by her associate, the Ragpicker, who is a bit more worldly than the Countess, she soon comes to realize that the world might well be ruined by these evil men—men who seek only wealth and power.