Monkey Admired

A Rogue Machine presentation of the play in 2 functions by Henry Murray. Directed by John Perrin Flynn. Sonny Bonobo - Edward TournierBrown Place - Justin Okin/David MauerMadeline Kahn - Amanda MauerJames Rat - Patrick FlanaganElaine Ostrich - Jennifer TaubPenguinito/Mr. Stubbs/Lab Tech - Ron BottittaRogue Machine and scribe Henry Murray come with an finish-of-mobile phone industry's romance going. 2 yrs after premiering his postapocalyptic pansexual "Treefall," they bring us his preapocalyptic pansexual "Monkey Admired," by which creatures, described by humans, await doomsday by acting the best traits of the species (i.e. eating and humping) while they are poisoned through the worst traits of ours. An uneven manufacture of an uneven text, the audacious vest-pocket spectacle is nonetheless probably the most captivating points of interest around at this time. It's mainly la vie en rose for Madeline Kahn the kitty (Amanda Mauer) and Brown Place your dog (Justin Okin, alternating with David Mauer), breakfast pals at downtown's Le Coffee shop Coffee shop. True, the pup includes a pulverizing crush on Sonny Bonobo (Edward Tournier), the preening simian who's become Ms. Kahn's latest flame since he's been launched from a pet testing lab. But Sonny doesn't have compunctions about riding Brownie's lap to create periodic zoological whoopie, so who's to complain? But you will find storm clouds coming. Gossips about human scientists' trying out remedies for radiation sickness suggest someone's got a finger around the nuclear button. Along with a "Paw Energy" resistance movement is emerging from subterranean within the person of James Rat (Patrick Flanagan), a rapping rodent whose beady eye is definitely out for incipient urban terrorists prepared to rise facing the oppressors. Murray veers crazily (and sometimes irritatingly) between punning and pathos, puppetry and poetry to support all his allegorical strains. Helmer John Perrin Flynn accumulates considerable suspense as act one finishes, but act two begins having a dead lull that the play requires a while to rebound. Furthermore, two roles appear miscast. Mauer lacks feline allure, hamstrung through the tiresome requirement to bugger her l's and r's in the way of her namesake's Lili von Shtupp "Blazing Saddles" role. She's heavy-footed, but less than Flanagan, vocally forced inside a part with the hairtrigger nervosity of Kaira Pitt in "12 Apes." Others embrace their inner creatures totally. Jennifer Taub lights up as Elaine the ostrich, blowsy coffee shop hostess whose have a problem with illness never reduces her supportive spirit. Ron Bottitta drops amusingly gnomic utterances like a droll penguin (this waiter includes their own tuxedo), adding a unique cameo like a great ape introduced lower by scientists' unspeakable practices. Tournier's is really a memorably physical performance integrating monkey manner and human frailty. (The jaunty organ-grinder cap is a superb touch from designer Stephanie Kerley Schwartz.) If thesp has yet to completely embody Sonny's anarchic lustfulness, he taps into an abundance of emotional authenticity once the broken creature is attracted to martyrdom like a cleansing act of meaning. Throughout, he's sweetly synchronized with Okin's sincere, heartbreakingly loyal hound. Their unlikely romance eventually ends up seeming as natural as Romeo and Juliet's and, under Serta Weingarten's delicate lighting, equally star-entered. Like magic, through all of the monkeyshines, Murray handles to create us nearer to an awareness from the exquisite discomfort of affection as practiced through the human animal.Sets and costumes, Stephanie Kerley Schwartz lighting, Serta Weingarten seem, Frederick "Sloe" Slawinski forecasts, Adam Flemming puppeteers, David Hair combs, Linda Hoag original music, Michael Wells. Opened up March. 8, 2011. Examined March. 9. Running time: one hour, 45 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com