THE CRAZY LADY OF CHAILLOT Plays the Medicine Show Theatre, Now thru 4/28

The Crazy Lady of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux has opened at Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble, one of New York's longest-running experimental theatres.

Remaining performances are set for Thursday, April 10; Friday, April 11; Saturday, April 12; Sunday, April 13; Friday, April 18; Saturday, April 19; Monday, April 21; Thursday, April 24; Friday, April 25; Saturday April, 26; Sunday, April 27; and a closing performance on Monday, April 28. Curtain time for Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays is 7:30 p.m. Curtain time for Sundays is 5 p.m. The theatre is located at 549 W. 52nd Street, 3rd Floor, near 11th Ave., subway C/E 50th St.

This is the first true English-language production of the play. The standard English version, called The Madwoman of Chaillot is in fact an adaptation. M. Valency, the adapter, said in the 1950s that he left out a good deal of the original so that American audiences would understand it. But in this production, translator and Medicine Show artistic director Barbara Vann goes to the original French text to bring the true, unabridged work to New York audiences.

The plot focuses on an evil corporation's plans to destroy Paris by drilling for oil (in this age of fracking, sound familiar?), that inspires an eccentric woman and three friends to set a hilarious trap for the "one-percenters" (as we might call them), baited with their own greed. Love triumphs too.

Vann, Obie winner for directing the original musical Born to Rise, directs a cast of 25. They include Joel Bernstein (Broadway: Born Yesterday, TV: Chappelle's Show), Vivien Landau (Film: Spencer), Rao Rampilla (Film: Adam Sandler's That's My Boy, TV: 30 Rock), Mike Cesarano (Theater: Line, Radio: Baseball Digest Live).

Tickets are $18.00 for general admission, $15.00 for seniors and students. They are available from Smarttix at www.Smarttix.com or (212) 868-4444. For more information, log onto the company's website at www.MedicineShowTheatre.org.