BWW Reviews: TREVOR at Theatre UCF

Animals creep me out. There, I said it. People often ask why I'm not more of an animal person. No longer will I have to search for the words to express my deep, unsettling feelings towards even the most cuddly of housepets. Perhaps the root cause for my emotional trauma is never being able to fully understand what is going through an animal's mind. So, imagine my reaction to a play that dives deep into an animal's inner monologue to try and make us understand the perils of deciding to house a wild animal. Now before we go any further, I must advise I am not talking about a passive Golden Retriever or snotty Siamese Cat, but an out-of-control, 14 year-old, 200 lb chimpanzee. Based on the true story of Sandra Jerome, who passed away in 2010 from an aortic aneurysm, TREVOR explores that age old question, "What if animals could talk?"

As a baby chimp, Trevor found his way to animal fame starring in commercials and an unaired television pilot with actress Morgan Fairchild. Raised by Sandra and her husband, Trevor was entertaining with his showmanship, and everything the young, childless couple could have asked for in a housepet. Trevor was opening doors, surfing the web, and watching television by day, and sleeping in his kennel in the backyard by night-- a harmonious balance for an animal. Things took a turn when Sandra's husband died. Her depression and loneliness manifested in treating Trevor as her child. That's the basic premise of Nick Jones' bizarrely entertainng new play TREVOR, playing at the University of Central Florida through November 23rd.

At 14, Trevor is beginning to feel and act like a washed-up child actor, and sadly, Sandra's pathetic lifestyle is blinding her from seeing the inevitable danger to which she is exposing herself and the neighbors. The playwright has Trevor speaking in English so the audience can understand what he is saying, but to the other characters in the world of the play, it's nothing more than monkey sounds. This is a crafty theatrical device used to show us the extreme communication gap between two different species. Sometimes the two are on the same page, with subjects like coffee, or sharing a bottle of wine together (troubling, right?). But other times, in more escalated situations, Sandra has no authority over the chimp, and that is when things just get scary.

Jones' decision to have the animal speak our language is not only for theatrics, it's to convey a sense of empathy for Trevor and his inability to reason with his human counterparts. It also expresses, in volumes, the woeful state Sandra is living in, thinking this is a normal situation. Several times throughout the play the line "this isn't normal" is spoken, or shouted, to Sandra. But all Sandra ever replies with is, "People don't understand." You got that one right, girl.

Regrettably, Jones does not give the play a proper ending. After an extreme climactic moment that had the audience gripping their chairs, the play flops to a conclusion with two of the show's supporting cast, weeks or months after the preceding scene, reminiscing about the turn of events and basically saying "Can you believe (such and such) just happened?!" "I know right!?" (Blackout). The play would have landed without this scene. The play is billed as a dark comedy, but UCF's production unfolded as a tragic comedy, which I preferred.

Michelle Ware's nearly naturalistic set captures a home that has been worn out by Trevor, and even more wear and tear would have supported the tragic state of affairs. Christopher Neiss, a notable choreographer, uses his talents to create a production that moves, climbs, and comes to screeching halts expertly. The pulse in Trevor is unparalleled to many other productions I've seen this season. Scene transitions from Trevor's alternate reality back into present day are also captured wonderfully with the help of Matt Ardoin and Vandy Wood's lighting design and Anthony Narciso's sound design.

However, as swiftly as the show moved, performances plagued this otherwise nearly flawless production. With the exception of Colton Butcher as Trevor and the hilarious Alyx Levesque as Morgan Fairchild, performances were uneven, lacking conviction and fell into melodrama. Maddie Tarbox as Sandra looked uncomfortable on stage and out of her body. Victoria Gluchoski, who was fabulous over the summer in UCF's THE FOREIGNER, also suffered from a lack of objectives and seemed young for the part. Colton Butcher gave another strong performance this year (also in THE FOREIGNER). A complete transformation, physical and vocal, Mr. Butcher uses subtle touches in his performance to convey his character. Perfected by Neiss' choreography, Mr. Butcher leaps and bounds all over Sandra's humble, and partially destroyed, living room.

Despite its few flaws, TREVOR still evokes a strong audience response. Getting laughs is hard, but getting continuing gasps of shock and awe, I think, is one of the hardest to get from an audience and at the performance of TREVOR that I saw, the audience left completely aghast.

Trevor closes on Sunday November 23rd. For tickets visit Theatre UCF's Website. (This concludes Theatre UCF's fall season. I will be back in the spring semester to cover their lineup which starts off with Tom Stoppard's ARCADIA in January.)

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