March is upon us, and many Falls Church schools are beginning to perform their spring plays. Trinity School at Meadowview, with its classical education curriculum, would normally be staging Shakespearean fare such as last year’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Comedy of Errors.” This year, however, the entire twelfth grade is performing “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” a comic drama about a group of heroes who cuddle imaginary dogs, see imaginary people, and sit on a bench all day waiting for a dead president to arrive. Written by Jean Giraudoux in the French Absurdist tradition, the play was composed during the Nazi occupation of France and thus indirectly satirizes the supposed great leaders of society: businessmen, officials, and a prospector who all scheme to dismantle Paris in order to drill for petroleum! Meanwhile, Aurelia, the titular madwoman of Chaillot—the self-proclaimed “countess” who manages the Café Chez Francis—seeks, along with other supposedly mad residents of Paris, to foil these plans and, in a more classical moment in the play, condemn the would-be despoilers to damnation and restore the earth to a place of justice and kindness.
The play is directed by Trinity teachers Patty Whelpley and James Clancy. Each year, Trinity School at Meadowview students in the upper high school grades dedicate some seventy hours of class time to put together a full production of a culturally significant play. We recently attended a rehearsal of the current production, watching Annie Bryant as the Prospector arguing passionately for oil drilling, Gordon Sandilands as a president seeming to argue for stock swindles, and Annette Whelpley as the eponymous madwoman who, as per the play’s notes, is “dressed in the grand fashion of 1885,” except for “a hat in the style of Marie Antoinette.” Other students performed their parts convincingly as well.
Mrs. Whelpley, the co-director, explains: “As part of the curriculum, we have the students write daily journal entries analyzing the play. In these journal entries, we see that the students are recognizing the way the Parisians must have received this play after the end of World War II. Students connect with the realization that the ‘sane’ people are just as crazy as the ‘madwoman,’ analyze what each of these characters signifies, and discuss why the author says that the vagabonds are ‘the last free people of the earth.’”
Some of the student performers shared their thoughts on the play to Falls Church News-Press as well. Aleksandra Pack, who plays the low-status Ragpicker, tells us: “Giraudoux’s work remains relevant because it illustrates issues that persist today. With ‘The Madwoman,’ Giraudoux shows something we don’t like to acknowledge: we may not be inclined to do the right thing because it seems disadvantageous or even crazy, but it’s the only way to preserve the beauty and goodness we’ve been given.”
Student Charlotte Wolfe states, “My main role, Madame Josephine, might initially be dismissed as a whimsical old madwoman. Yet she embodies logic and justice in her own distinct manner. The complexity of each character, especially the madwomen, makes this play exciting to perform.” Sarah Clifford, who plays Dr. Jadin, comments further on the madwoman countess: “Through her madness, she saves Paris from great evil!”
Ariana Tehrani, who enacts the role of the waitress Irma, observes: “The characters in the play are fun to see unfold because they make up every extreme: from the stereotypical bad guy characters (president, prospector, broker, and baron) to the classic naïve character who can only see good in the world (the madwoman Aurelia). Even so, though the characters are at first glance very black-and-white in presentation, there is still much nuance to each character.”
The production is enhanced by period costumes (both mid-twentieth century and nineteenth century), simple sets suggesting the stone foundation of the venerable city of Paris, and enthusiastic actors and actresses who have thought deeply about the meaning behind the play; the production may also be curiously appropriate for an election year! “The Madwoman of Chaillet” will be performed on March 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. at the Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, Virginia 22031. The performance is free, and no tickets or reservations are needed.