THE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN: Former Locals Produce Play, Showing at The Mabel Tainter
Josh Salt and Mary Mondlock are returning to Menomonie to produce a show, performances slated for July
No matter where you end up in life, you always remember where you came from. That sentiment is exactly what led actors Josh Salt and Mary Mondlock back to Menomonie to produce The Dream of A Ridiculous Man, a theater performance based on the Fyodor Dostoevsky short story. The theater adaptation was written by Salt over the past four years.
Currently, both Salt and Monlock are theater teachers in Texas, but are returning to Menomonie for the summer to put on the show. Rehearsals will be from June 1-30 with performances happening at The Mabel Tainter on July 1, 2, 7, and 9. The play follows a man contemplating suicide, who then meets a young neighbor in need and changes everything for him.
“(Dostoevsky’s piece) Just seems so relatable even though it’s so old,” Salt said. “The idea where it comes from, the authenticity, and its sense of purpose just gripped me and I kept seeing it as very visual. I always describe the whole thing as a kind of dance. It was written as a 10-page monologue by Dostoevsky, and (my) first impulse was to do this as a one-person show – just me out there and nothing else – but little by little I wanted to do more of a bouquet of different voices and different people telling this story.”
Salt and Mondlock were both born and raised in Menomonie, where they met while performing in local and high school theater performances. After graduating, both moved to other states to perform in theater and on television; Josh notably pursuing and starring on Broadway (playing Azolan in Les Liaison Dangereuses with Liev Schreiber; Dan Radcliffe's understudy in The Cripple of Inishmaan) and television (HBO, STARZ, NBC, CBS, and more). Mary performed as Sally Bowles (Cabaret), Carrie Pipperidge (Carousel), and Heather McNamara (Heathers).
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WE HAVEN'T REALLY DONE ANYTHING IN OUR HOMETOWN FOR A LONG TIME... (THIS SHOW) WAS SOMETHING I KNEW I HAD TO DO.
mary mondlock
co-director/producer
After reconnecting with Josh in New York, Mary immediately knew she wanted to help co-direct his production of The Dream of A Ridiculous Man after reading the script in Central Park.
“(Josh) Was always doing crazy creative projects, and we were always doing creative projects together. Just to see the evolution of him after having all these experiences, and my own life experiences based on mental health and seeing the adversity that everybody's facing – especially after COVID – politically, geographically, the wealth disparity ... all of these topics are in one way or another really touched on in this piece and it really touched me in a deep way," Mondlock said. "We haven't really done anything in our hometown for a long time, and eventually the dream (of producing the show) became a reality, and it was something that I knew I had to do.”
Tickets to The Dream of A Ridiculous Man are available for purchase now, as well as available on a “pay what you can” basis, which is first-come, first-served.
“I decided, just because of the themes of the piece, we want to have a certain percentage of tickets available as a donate-what-you-can price, so don't be scared of (the ticket price),” Salt said. “We want everybody to be able to see this, so we really don't want money to ever hamper somebody's ability to see the show.”
The duo ultimately decided to bring this production back to their hometown because of their love for the Chippewa Valley's theater scene – where they both got their start.
“It'll just be a great time to reconnect and get back to our roots, which is a lot of what this show is about,” Mondlock said. “Grounding and finding peace with where you came from.”
Learn more about the show and buy tickets online or at mabeltainter.org.
