On May 5th and 6th, the Frederick Theatre Department had their last production of the year. The theater performed The Madwoman of Chaillot, a poetic satire play that was written in 1943 by French dramatist Jean Giraudox. This play was a little different from most plays performed by the Frederick Theatre Department; the script and plotline weren’t all that interesting, but Frederick Theatre excels with their cool sets and good performances.

The Madwoman of Chaillot is about a group of businessmen wanting to tear down New York City to put up oil derricks when an eccentric, cold woman finds out. The Countess Aurelia and her cohorts are determined to stop them from destroying the city of New York when she holds them accountable by killing the greedy businessmen for their so-called crimes.

The acting during the play was pretty good. Each actor played their role really well, and they had good projection from the stage towards the audience. Each actor performed their roles and really showcased who their characters were and the effect they had on the stage and script. Not only were the acting skills good, but from the audience, you were able to hear the performance clearly and really understand what the characters were saying. Something that stood out really well was the accents; they helped further connect with the audience and really show the time frame of when the play was written.

The first half of the play appeared to be set up as a cafe, with lots of customers Coutts

coming and going and lots of performers appearing on the stage. The set was pretty quiet, but it still connected to the story of the play, as it did have a strong effect. Along with the set, the set had lots of props, which helped the set look more realistic and interesting. The lighting was also really good and clear; there were a few spotlights during the beginning and end of the first half of the play, including a pinkish purple spotlight hitting the stage when the Countess Aurelia (Peyton Siders) appeared on stage.

The second half of the play appeared to be in the Countess Aurelia’s living

space; this set also had a lot of different features in the background, and lots of characters appeared on stage at some point in this time of the play. This set was actually so cool and by far overpowered the first set, it really had a strong appeal to the audience. Not only did this have lots of cool background features like a clock, but it also included some main set pieces like the piano, where Countess Aurelia (Peyton Siders) opened the second half of the play by performing a beautiful piece on the piano. Another strong feature was what appeared to be a couch, where a lot of the storyline took place. Also, not to mention, a vibrant red door that stood out when it appeared on stage, while the business men would go through it, facing their tiebreaker.

The overall experience of watching The Madwoman of Chaillot was good. While the play consisted of a lot of sitting and wasn’t as interesting as expected, it was still a good play thanks to the theater department. I don’t recommend that this specific script is interesting to all, as it may not be as giddy as one would expect. But the theater department did a great job making the script worth watching; they have a great group of talented actors who make the characters and story interesting, also they surprisingly bring a lot of comedy to the stage. In addition, they have a great set crew that helped further the production into something that is worth watching. The theater department is what made the show, not the script, and I recommend anyone to experience watching a play or musical production in the years to come.