Review: ANIMAL Makes Intriguing Premiere at Studio Theatre

ANIMAL, Studio Theatre's entry into the DC Metro Area's Women's Voices Theater Festival, is not one of those plays that can be easily synopsized and then recommended (or not) in one tidy sentence or two. What can be said is that Clare Lizzimore's challenging play benefits from the immersive and intimate staging that Director Gaye Taylor Upchurch has conjured up for this inaugural Studio X production, as well as some excellent acting.

When we first meet Rachel (DC theatre regular Kate Eastwood Norris, astonishingly making her Studio debut), she's begging her psychiatrist, Stephen (Joel David Santner) to give her medication of the strongest sort. She's clearly dealing with a lot, and hiding under loose fitting casual clothing and a knit hat (costume design by Kathleen Geldard). Presumably insurmountable changes in her life have led her to this unfortunate position. But, what are those changes exactly? We witness fragments of Rachel's interaction with her husband Tom (Cody Nickell) and others - whether real or imagined - that give us some clues. There's an old women in a wheelchair (Rosemary Regan), a little girl (Anaïs Killian), and a mysterious man named Dan (Michael Kevin Darnall). However, none of these fragments add up to offer the full truth. Until the last few minutes of the play, the audience on all four sides of the small, almost bare stage experiences Rachel's disorienting and confusing world in the way that she does - up close and personal. We hear the nagging voices she does (sound design by Daniel Kluger) and, like the character, don't have total control over what's happening. It's easy to become bewildered by it all.

Lizzimore certainly has a way with emotion-filled words, and a knack for writing a female character that's most definitely out of sorts. To be sure, Kate Eastwood Norris is infinitesimally believable and brilliant in the role of Rachel (the rest of the ensemble is excellent as well), which allows for a viewing experience that can be, at times, quite uncomfortable, but ultimately very engaging. Likewise, the structural form the play takes is most intriguing as well because it plays up the idea of what's real vs. what's imagined, and how not all parts - particularly for someone experiencing emotional turmoil - can be summed up into a fully explainable whole.

Yet, even with all of that, there is something that's decidedly missing. It's impossible - even with the risky form - to call this play out as special or even unique once one unpacks the theatrical devices that Lizzimore employs to tell her story. The truth is, at the core, what we have is yet another play about a female trying to figure out evolving roles, responsibilities, and situations and how she's supposed to feel about and deal with them. We've been there, done that. In the end, I suppose that it's possible some of a certain age - with the requisite experience - will find something relatable about Rachel's experience, but that can only go so far.

So, what's powerful about the play isn't necessarily the narrative Lizzimore provides or the ideas she grapples with in her piece. The intimate staging, excellent acting, and the manner in which the story is relayed are sufficient enough for at least one audience member (myself) to appreciate the production.

Running Time: Around 75 minutes with no intermission.

ANIMAL is currently playing through October 25 at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th Street NW in Washington, DC. For tickets, call the box office at 202-332-3300 or purchase them online.

Photo: Michael Kevin Darnall and Kate Eastwood Norris in ANIMAL at Studio Theatre. By Igor Dmitry.

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