SYNOPSIS
In the tiny living quarters behind the Greenwich Village candy store which she operates with her husband, crowded with her forty-year collection of movie magazines, Mildred Wild has virtually escaped from reality into the dream world conjured up by the 3,000 movies she has eagerly devoured. And when the outside world does intrudevia her husband; his meddling sister; their hard-boiled landlady; the mincing butcher from next door; or the foreman of the wrecking crew sent to tear down the buildingMildred meets each crisis with a hilarious fantasy-scene drawn from her precious lode of old movies. As the action moves swiftly ahead to its delightfully unpredictable climax, Mildred's life is further complicated by such unlikely visitors as a bulldozer, a nun, King Kong, and a super efficient TV camera crew, all adding to the merriment and, ultimately, to the poignancy which infuses the play and the touching, funny escapades of its kooky, lovable and totally enchanting heroine..
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REVIEWS
What is unique about this play is that while most plays take a controversial look at an aspect of society outside of the theatre, here the criticism is being mirrored back into the world of theatre, where a clever juxtapositioning of the performance and the back of the house is taking place. Using this device, the reader (and audience) is unclear what is most important in the world of theatre, the performance, or the power of nepotism etc.. Each character has a seperate reason for being involved in the theatre, be it for fame, love, popularity etc. and it is powerful especially as an artist to see these characters come clean and perhaps even save themselves from being devoured by the theatre by actually admitting their agendas to themselves and the rest of the cast. |