12.
DIFFERENT ANIMALS
Occasionally
the frequently tedious job of seeing so many low-budget productions in small, largely
unheralded venues pays dividends when you come across a new talent in writing,
design, or performance. Although it sometimes happens that a show boasts more
than one talent, it’s not as common for multiple talents to reside in the same
individual, especially when that person is both playwright and actor. A good
example, and someone I’d be surprised isn’t heard of more often in the future,
is Abby Rosebrock, a slim, toothy blonde from South Carolina who wrote and
stars in DIFFERENT ANIMALS, now being shown (but soon closing) in the smaller
of the two spaces at the Cherry Lane Theatre. This play, directed by Bruce
Ornstein, with a cast of highly talented non-Equity actors, is far from perfect
and, at over two hours, it could use a sharp pair of scissors to help keep its
audience more consistently involved. On the other hand, my companion, a veteran
theatre director for over 50 years, could not get over it, and kept repeating
to me that it was one of the best plays he’s seen in the last five years, and
that Rosebrock’s performance was unforgettable. I agree with the second
opinion, not so much with the first.
Rosebrock’s Southern Gothic concoction
imagines a middle-class couple in Spartanburg, SC, the young wife, Jessica
Tarver (Cesa Pledger), having a hot and heavy affair with the handsome young
minister, William Burnip (Brady Kirchberg), while her husky, middle-aged
husband, Leo (Dirk Keysser), is an object of lust for his sexually ramped up
office mate, Molly Gardner (Ms. Rosebrock). Eventually, Leo, Molly, and Jessica
end up living together in a ménage a trois, and there is even a scene where all
three of them enjoy a romp in a bathtub (yes, another BATHTUB SCENE!). There’s
a frontal nudity moment for Leo, but the women remain fully covered by bubbles.
The play touches on religion and faith, abortion, fidelity, and mental illness,
often merely for laughs, but at other times quite seriously.
The characters, dialogue, and situations start off
being somewhat comically over the top, with lots of hilariously filthy
conversation, but the play’s descent from light comedy to dark drama creates a
sense of stylistic imbalance. Still, Rosebrock’s acting keeps you riveted. As
the play proceeds, Molly’s sexual obsessiveness, and tendency to express herself
in excited outbursts, becomes increasingly less funny and more and more
threatening. The joyous eruptions soon turn to nasty accusations and threats. Any
associations between her and the Glenn Close character in FATAL ATTRACTION are
quite deliberate, as that movie is referenced in the dialogue (as are other
films, including A Streetcar Named Desire
and The Godfather II). Rosebrock’s
Molly is about as intense a characterization of a psychotic as one can take in
such a tiny venue. I sat in the front row, and being so close to her as she
became ever more manic (with dashes of zany good will popping up at the most
surprising moments) sometimes made me uncomfortable. The insecure glances in
her eyes, the constant shifting from grimness to smiles, the volcanically angry
outbursts (her excoriation of Leo’s sexual inadequacies is both a remarkable
piece of writing and acting), and the sense of being so wired she seems to have
Starbucks in her veins, are enough to cover a myriad of playwriting flaws.
Molly is both highly intelligent and ditzy; for all her knowledge and
articulateness, she can still say things like “I wanted to marry Hugo Chavez
and be the next Evita,” which drew a big laugh.
I’ve spent a lot of time on Rosebrock’s performance,
but the ensemble around her makes an excellent foil. Each character is full
blown, vocally and physically right, and emotionally accurate. This applies
even to the seven-year old darling, Maria Panoski, who appears as Jessica’s
little girl late in the play. Her brief presence is one of the indelible
highlights of the production.
On the down side are the play’s excessive scene
changes. Fortunately, they’re well choreographed and smoothly efficient, use
effectively designed (by Matthew J. Fick) sliding units that can be transformed from one purpose to
another, and are covered by bluegrass music (or something like it). But they
drag down the overall pacing of the show and point out the playwright and
director’s need to find a means to overcome the problems implicit in so
episodically structured a play.
DIFFERENT ANIMALS may have problems but, more often
than not, it’s barking up the right tree.
