Year of the Rooster 

Reviewed by Dana Martin 
Theatre of NOTE 
Through March 24^th  

RECOMMENDED 

Size matters, and the bigger the cock, the bigger the prize to be won. The posturing is plentiful in Theatre of NOTE’s latest production, Year of the Rooster by Olivia Default. The play relies heavily on testosterone, violence and anger to examine how ambition equates to manhood.

The story follows Gil Pepper (Travis Moscinski), a hapless loser and unwitting everyman from the dregs of rural Oklahoma. He works at the local McDonald’s and lives at home with his overbearing, emotionally manipulative mother, Lou (Kathleen O’Grady). Gil is looking to change his fate, however, and to gain respect among his peers. He dreams the impossible dream: to have the biggest cock in town. The biggest fighting cock that is, Odysseus Rex. Steroid-fueled, captive and angry, Odysseus tries desperately to make sense of his rage. Often disoriented, pumped with steroids, and abused in an effort to make him meaner and deadlier, his outrage reaches Shakespearian heights. 

Director McKerrin Kelly keeps the pace tight and the tension tightly wound. The audience is seated on both sides of the stage, complementing the play’s quick and fluid action. The short scenes are punctuated by drum-heavy, too-quick transitions. The play’s dramatic tension is heightened by Bosco Flanagan’s lighting design. Costume design by Michael Mullen is outstanding, particularly the imaginative interpretation of the birds. Set design by Amanda Knehans is appropriately sparse, while sound designer Warren Davis adds little variety to the play’s tempo.

Keston John delivers an explosive and physically charged performance as prized cock Odysseus Rex. His imaginative exploration of the rooster’s gestures, thoughts and feelings is worth the price of admission. Christopher Neiman finds deep-seated resentment beneath the slick showman facade of Dickey, a slimy cockfight promoter who desperately wants to be the biggest, meanest guy in town. Kathleen O’Grady delivers a well-measured performance as a self-centered, emotionally manipulative and generally terrible mother, Lou. Amanda Celine Miller shines as Philipa, the feisty McDonald’s manager with ambitions of her own. Travis Moscinski is the backbone of the play, as a bullied young man with a lot to prove. A lovable loser with a bad case of bloated ambition.

How far are we willing to go to satisfy our own ambitions, and at what cost? Year of the Rooster examines reality through a pulsing red lens, ostensibly suggesting the meaner the cock, the bigger the win. Yet while all of the characters are mean, none of them win. They all get slashed eventually. Is life a bloody cockfight? Perhaps. But the question remains: How big is your cock?

Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m.; through March 24th; (323) 856-8611 or theatreofnote.com; Running time: 95 minutes with no intermission.