The Galloping Cure (2025)

Cast
   THERESA ALBERTINE HART, a doctor, dedicated and compassionate - Lyric Mezzo-soprano
   NOY, a teenager, angry and energetic - Light Lyric Soprano
   LUCKY MACK, a devil, smooth and charming - Baritone
   IVONA KOWALSKI, an old lady, embattled and in pain - Dramatic Soprano
   MEG, a farm dog, gleefully disgusting and optimistic - Soprano
   SAM, a farm dog, gleefully disgusting and optimistic - Baritone

SATB Chorus (12-16)
   Including solo townspeople:
   SHAWNA (soprano), WARREN (tenor), MAYOR (Tenor),
   DUANE MACGREGOR (Tenor), JACKY-BOY (Bass), REPORTER (Bass)

   A mix of ages including 6 who look like teenagers,
   including ZOE (Soprano), ERIN (Alto)

Note
The Galloping Cure resets Kafka’s short story A Country Doctor in the present-day opioid crisis, filtered through the kaleidoscopic imagination of writer Karen Russell. A charming man comes to a small town, peddling a magical cure for pain in the form of a carousel ride. Doctor Teresa Hart initially endorses the cure after seeing the transformational effect on her town, realizing only too late that there are no easy solutions to complex problems. The Galloping Cure is a lurid tale of greed, sacrifice and resilience set amidst one of the most pressing crises of our time.

Synopsis
Act One (Winter to Spring)
In a struggling industrial town, residents suffer increasing chronic pain. Dr. Theresa Hart treats patients with compassion but feels powerless, plagued by her own migraines. Her teenage daughter Noy resents her, calling her a “shitty doctor.” A mysterious carnival arrives led by the devilish Lucky Mack, offering the townspeople joy and release on his carousel, “The Galloping Cure.” The community becomes enthralled; even skeptics like the eccentric Ivona Kowalski feel relief. Noy experiences the ride’s euphoria and urges her mother to try it. Theresa remains wary, but the town descends into mass hysteria as the carousel’s allure grows.

Act Two (Summer to Autumn)
The mayor hails the Galloping Cure as an economic miracle, and Theresa publicly endorses it, partnering with Lucky Mack. Demand spirals, fights erupt, and Mack institutes dynamic pricing and a two-ride-per-week limit. At home, Noy returns injured in the carousel frenzy but finds relief riding a “HomeHorse”, a stick-horse for private use that Mack provides. Theresa, curious, succumbs and discovers her migraines momentarily vanish. Mack tempts her further, blurring medicine with miracle. Meanwhile, Noy and the town’s youth retreat to an abandoned cinema, where HomeHorses transform into a rave-like party. They drift into dangerous dependence, surrendering their sense of self to the galloping cure.

Act Three (Autumn to Bitter Winter)
Mack preys on Ivona, persuading her to sacrifice her eyes, hair, and body parts for his carousel horses, which grotesquely incorporate human remains. Theresa, exhausted and addicted, nearly loses herself before realizing Noy and the other youths have been mutilated: tongues, hair, and more taken by Mack. She tries to save Noy, but her daughter succumbs, dying in her arms, convinced she was “ridden” by the cure. Mack then confronts Theresa with Rosa, the baby, insisting they are partners in the town’s destruction. Theresa resists but cannot undo the damage: Ivona and Noy are transformed into carousel horses, and the town continues to ride, Theresa doubles down on her commitment to serving the town in the face of addiction.