Theatre Three presents Big Scary Animals
Big Scary Animals
by Matt Lyle
Starring -
in alphabetical order:
Charlotte Akin
Bradley Atuba
Chad Cline
Monica Jones
Bob Reed
Brady White
Directed by Rebecca McDonald
Assistant Director - Zetra Goodlow
Scenic Designer - Jeffrey Schmidt
Costume Designer - Christie Vela
Assistant Costume Designer - Isa Flores
Lighting Designer - Jacob Hughes
Sound Designer - Mason York
Intimacy and Fight Choreographer - Danielle Georgiou, Ph. D
My thoughts on Big Scary Animals…or White Zinfandel and chocolate mousse
Theatre Three Presents
Big Scary Animals
by Matt Lyle
Directed by Rebecca McDonald
I don’t know what I was expecting when I walked into Big Scary Animals by Matt Lyle, but what I got was an evening of theater quite unlike any I have experienced before. Never have I laughed so hard, felt so uneasy, or wept all within a one act play. Such is the power of Big Scary Animals.
An older straight, conservative, “Christian” couple, Rhonda and Donald (Charlotte Akin and Bob Reed) and their son Ronnie (Brady White) have moved into a condo in the Dallas “gayborhood” of Cedar Springs and have been invited to dinner at the home of their next-door neighbors, a younger gay married couple, Marcus and Clark (Bradley Atuba and Chad Cline) and their daughter Sophia (Monica Jones). The clever set design by Jeffrey Schmidt is literally a house divided down the middle with decor reflecting the taste of each couple and the lighting design of Jacob Hughes keeps us aware of whose home we are in. Both the division and the similarities between the two homes and their inhabitants become apparent over the course of the evening as prejudices, beliefs, and stereotypes are challenged. I know this sounds heavy, and parts of this play are indeed devastating, but much of it is hilarious, as the howls of the opening night audience attested. You may cringe a bit at some of the more biting humor, but the laughs are more than abundant.
Director Rebecca McDonald keeps the play moving at a fast clip but knows just when to pause and let scenes play out and these actors are experts at making those scenes work.
As Sophia the daughter of the gay couple, Monica Jones is a frenetic bundle of profane energy. She’s all over the stage saying one outrageous thing after another and Jones makes Sophia consistently fun to watch.
On the other end of the spectrum, Brady White as Ronnie, the son of Rhonda and Donald, is sort of an unstoned stoner. Brady makes Ronnie, a “troubled “home-schooled recluse who enjoys playing with guns, so totally laid back that at first, he is almost a caricature. However, especially as Ronnie gets to know Sophia, Brady skillfully lets the true Ronnie emerge.
Charlotte Akin is wonderful as the chicken obsessed Rhonda. Wearing a vest adorned with her beloved chickens, one of costumer Christie Vela’s best designs, and swilling White Zinfandel, Akin makes the witty Rhonda both a peacemaker and a peace disrupter, constantly saying the wrong thing. She is a product of her conservative upbringing and her religion. Akin shows quite the range of acting here, especially in her “melt down” scene near the end of the play. Akin makes Rhonda, who believes a good casserole can cure anything, into a delightful, yet troubling, character.
Rhonda’s husband Donald is also a product of his conservative past and environment. Donald is a not so thinly veiled racist and homophobe. Bob Reed’s Donald is someone you would probably see being interviewed on Fox News and roll your eyes. However, Donald has a mind crippling secret from his past. Reed’s Donald, in some of the finest acting I have witnessed, reveals this secret with such raw emotion and honesty that everyone around me was reaching for tissue. It is a truly powerful moment of theater.
I didn’t know if I was going to like the character of Clark. played by Chad Cline, at first. I thought he was just going to be another sitcomish, flamboyant gay man spouting witticisms and “sashaying” around the condo. However, as the play progressed, Cline gave the character more depth and his expressive face showed Clark’s genuine compassion and concern. His fierce love and loyalty for his husband Marcus was apparent. Cline also has quite the gift for comedy.
Bradley Atuba as Marcus is the most commanding character in the play. I admired the way Atuba built Marcus slowly, trying his best to be gracious to the racist couple, yet seething underneath. Marcus is a complex character with a secret of his own and the adept Atuba fully inhabits this complicated man. There is a scene in which the character of Marcus goes into a rage and Atuba makes this scene frighteningly realistic, spitting out his lines with so much true venom that it made me tremble.
Matt Lyle’s Big Scary Animals is provocative, uproarious, and smart. It is a play that tackles many tough issues head on. Director McDonald scores a direct hit here. Big Scary Animals will both delight and challenge you to confront those Big Scary Animals that lie within all of us.
