Through allegorical collage, puppetry, projection, and “animal magnetism” playwright Henry Murray explores the ideas of experientiality versus DNA, sexuality, violence, and prejudice in Monkey Adored. It is a humorous, modern-day Animal Farm, farce.
Reviewed by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move
In 1947 George Orwell wrote Animal Farm, an allegory about events leading up to and during Stalinism. It contained a very human story played out by animals, who attempted to address corruption, wickedness, indifference, and greed. In doing so they liberate themselves from human bondage. Animal Farm‘s chief characters in the end become very human. But ultimately they come to embody the lowest characteristics of their oppressors.
By comparison, Monkey Adored, a Rogue Machine Theatre world premiere, is an original, much more humorous fable by Henry Murray. It elucidates the politics of gender, love, humans, and animalistic behavior.
Murray explores the ideas of experientiality versus DNA. Are we who we are because of our parents, environment, experiences? Or is it that we are simply “born this way”? Is it possible to overcome ourselves, our emotions, our sexual identities, our prejudices, and our genetics? Monkey Adored reveals our ultimate need for very human connection with one another regardless of which side of the argument you choose. It also addresses the relationship between sexuality and violence. To say it is a reflection of ourselves as human beings is an understatement. And, Murray’s writing mirrors us all brilliantly here.
Murray’s prime suspects in this tale are a monkey – Sonny Bonobo, a cat – Madeline Kahn, and a dog – Brown Spot. The three characters get partly caught up in, then intentionally become very active in plotting the revolution against humans who are brutally “torturing” and using them for “animal testing.” Like humans these creatures’ lives are complex. They fall in love, in lust, they cross-species and cross-gender.
Monkey Adored begins seemingly “just another day”. The ever desirous and monogamous, Brown Spot (David Mauer) is in love with sexually liberated Sonny Bonobo (Edward Tournier). Bonobo has just been mysteriously released from a lab and is virtually unharmed. Except for a painful head wound. He takes “turns” with everyone including loose kitty, Madeline Kahn (Amanda Mauer). Kahn, after carnally cuddling with everyone else, then sours from Sonny’s repeated abandonment of her needs. Against all reason, Kahn then falls for stalker, terrorist, rat, James Rat (Patrick Flanagan).
Their lives are mostly ordinary, so it seems. They meet and flirt at Le Café Café, run by the lively cancer survivor Elaine Ostrich (Jennifer Taub), and the positively, postulate spouting, Penguinito played by Ron Bottitta. The cafe is atmosphered by the occasional homemade bomb causing the diner to go dark to avoid discovery.
Most of the time each character’s problems and dilemmas, skittishes, and slight skirmishes are solved sexually and peacefully among all. Although the occasional joke, irony, and universal wisdom manages to go right over their (dog, monkey, kitty) narcissistic, needy heads. That is, until James Rat, through a secret rendezvous, convinces Bonobo, who is normally and characteristically (as the Bonobo monkey species goes) passive and carefree, to fight for the cause by showing him an escaped tortured Ape hiding in the sewers.
Suddenly Bonobo becomes anything but phlegmatic. He elects himself as the suicide bomber who will take the humans at the lab down. Ah, a behavioral change has quite unpredictably occurred in Bonobo. This variation partly confuses and frightens his friends, especially his devoted lover Brown Spot who pleads with him not to – essentially “change.”
So desperate is Brown Spot to have Bonobo live that he, characteristically loyal to the humans (as dogs go), leads the lab technician who arrives in the form of a giant and frightening Puppet to re-capture the monkey. Finally, out of guilt and love, Brown Spot attempts to take Bonobo’s place but fails. He is compelled by his “man’s best friend” faithfulness. The cause is lost and the rest are left to make sense of what has happened. Madeline Kahn (cat) is left to raise the offspring of her three lovers and create a new future for them.
Comedic, tragic, and dark, Monkey Adored is superlative in execution, story, and performance. The use of puppetry was brilliant, adding a skillful, critical element and artistry to stagecraft that thoroughly intrigued and plainly worked – the coup de gras of this piece.
The ending had less impact than hoped for in winding up this tale, but it never-the-less leaves us with a sanguine view of animal-kind /mankind.
Every collaborator in this production deserves a well-earned note:
Music by composer Michael Wells from one of our LA favorites, Lost Moon Radio, and Sound Design by Joseph Slawinsi, added levity and subtlety throughout along with the additional humorous intermission tunes like What’s New Pussycat by Tom Jones and Shock the Monkey by Peter Gabriel.
Monkey Adored projection designs by Adam Fleming were seamless and effective as was the set design by Stephanie Kerley Schwartz and lighting design by Dan Weingarten. Puppeteers, David Combs, Linda Hoag, and Angela Verzello (assistant). Assistant Costume Design, Dian Camarill, Vanessa Erlich. Scenic Artist, Hillary Bauman. Assistant Scenic Design, Hazel Kuang, Hillary Bauman, David Mauer.
Magnificently done.
The above is a reprint of the original review on LA Theatre Review
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