The Madwoman of Chaillot

THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT, originally written to protest thoughtless urban renewal, has remained remarkably up-to-date. When it was first revived, the actor Georges Wilson wrote, "It is a prophetic play in the sense that the dangers denounced more than twenty years ago have become true and immediately observable in everyday life. The theme is alienation. The Madwoman tells us, 'Poor fools, take the time to breathe, you soon will be the living dead, mindless robots.'" Today, the play speaks to environmental concerns, the rape of the natural world, and the manipulation of world financial markets.