Reviewed by Martίn Hernández
Theatre of NOTE
Through October 1
RECOMMENDED
Playwright Ashley Rose Wellman’s world premiere dramedy depicts a complex mother-daughter relationship with nuanced characters and snappy dialogue. Set in a cramped and cluttered animal shelter, Wellman’s play explores themes of euthanasia, abortion, and single motherhood. These are embodied by human as well as Bunraku-influenced puppet characters, resulting in a moving parable on the power of empathy, for people as well as animals.
At an “open admission” facility, Sacramento’s Northside Animal Shelter accepts any animal, no matter what their physical or “behavioral” condition. Due to limited space and budget, however, those who are not adopted after their lengthy stays are euthanized by Northside’s cynical manager Colleen (a haunting Nadia Marina). The numbing toll this takes on Colleen is eased somewhat by a loving but feisty relationship with her seventeen-year-old daughter Ellie (a droll Chloe Madriaga).
Years of sacrifice as a solo parent, financial and emotional, have kept Colleen at the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder, a position she desperately wants her daughter to avoid in her life. In the confining space of their single apartment, the two rely on each other and there is little room for secrets between them despite their minor conflicts. But now, with Ellie at same age as Colleen was when she gave birth to her, small fissures between them are widening. Ellie’s abhorrence at Colleen’s career choice is becoming a bigger contradiction between them, and she chafes at her mother’s control. When Ellie starts spending time with fellow high-schooler Nolan (C.J. Craig), a baby-faced, preppy nerd starting a school club that “isn’t political,” Colleen is wary of their budding closeness and its potentially risky consequences. And, it also portends a future for Colleen without Ellie – or her love – in it.
Colleen’s biting sarcasm serves as a defense mechanism from her guilt over her pernicious work tasks and protects her from criticism — but also from intimacy. Bearing the brunt of her scorn is Brady (Alex Hogy), a university veterinary student who has just joined the staff as an intern to earn course credit – “You actually want to do this?” Colleen smarmily asks upon meeting him. She finds herself training Brady, knowing he will go on to bigger and better things while she will remain stuck. Despite her resentment for Brady’s privileged status, the two form a tentative bond, and Colleen reluctantly lets her guard down with her newfound confidante, especially after a brutally honest confession she makes to Ellie.
Under director Shaina Rosenthal’s steady hand (especially in Colleen’s scenes with designer/coach Emory Royston’s dog puppets), the ensemble presents devastating moments. In dream-like sequences, with jarring sounds from designer Matt Richter and moody lighting from designer Hayden Kirschbaum, fellow cast members proffer exceptionally lifelike maneuvering of the puppets. They eventually settle on a raised platform like sacrificial lambs, while Marina’s distressed Colleen calms each unsuspecting pooch before she administers the lethal dose. Each animal has its own personality and a disturbing story to relate (Hogy’s turn as a rambunctious Labrador is heartbreaking), and Colleen, though distant from most humans, turns a sympathetic ear to the dogs’ laments even as she serves as their unwilling executioner. (These canine confessions should make any potential pet owner think carefully over the responsibility and reasons for taking control of such creatures, just as parents should do when they decide, whether to bring a child into this world or not.)
Wellman’s shelter setting is analogous to an abortion clinic, complete with death threats and employee doxing, epitomizing the danger many who work in those fields face in providing such vital yet still misunderstood services. But the play is not all doom and gloom, as Wellman displays a playful wit in the face of her characters’ dire circumstances and contradictions. Marina’s Colleen and Madriaga’s Ellie have an authentic familial interaction that is both humorous and dramatic and that, despite the ambiguity of their connection at the finale, still offers a glimmer of hope.
Theatre of NOTE, 1517 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Opens Thurs., Aug. 24; Thurs.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 6 pm, through Sept. 24. theatreofnote.ludus.com. Running time ninety minutes with no intermission.
NOTE: All roles are double cast, so this review is for the Blue Cast, not the Red Cast. Please call to check which cast is performing.
