THE CHIMP THAT SPOKE. To 15 June.
Tour/London
THE CHIMP THAT SPOKE
conceived and directed by David Glass, inspired by Roger Fouts’ book Next of Kin
David Glass Ensemble Tour to 24 May 2003
Runs 2 hr 25 min One interval
Review Hazel Brown 11 April at Poole Lighthouse
Also plays at Battersea Arts Centre 10-15 June 2003
Tue-Sat 8.30pm Sun 6.30pm
TICKETS 020 7223 2223
www.bac.org.uk
Brilliant theatrical meditation on man’s relationship with his closest animal relativesBased loosely on Roger Fouts’ book about his 30 year relationship with Washoe, the chimpanzee he taught American Sign Language, the David Glass Ensemble has devised a brilliant piece of theatre that is a meditation on the troubling world we have created and the way we treat our closest animal relatives.
This does not mean that the play is not entertaining; it is. It’s stunning, troubling, funny and achingly sad, indicting the treatment of laboratory animals and parodying some of the experimentation in behavioural psychology - as well as leaving us with the troubling thought that chimpanzees could become extinct in the next ten years, with disturbing repercussions for humans.
A superb troupe of six performers plays all the parts from professors to telephone operators, students to researchers, dons to chimpanzees. They metamorphose with masterly simplicity – the change from human to ape is achieved simply by the donning of leather gloves to help them lope across the stage – emphasising just how close humans are to apes in terms of mannerisms, facial expressions, feelings and relationships.
The staging is likewise magical. A bookcase is also a climbing frame, a cage, an aeroplane and a courtroom, a telegraph pole and a telephone booth are imaginatively used - all are manoeuvred around the stage as the action develops. Superb lighting includes a hand-held, on-stage spotlight highlighting some of the fast-moving action. The music is wittily appropriate.
The first performance left the impression of a work in progress, so there could be changes during the tour. The first half was a little too long, especially as the action was held up by three overlong stories of the fate of three of the chimpanzees at the hands of former psychology patients turned into researchers by the mad Professor Lemmon. However, this modern fable is a treat, a tour de force of theatrical skill, that informs and does not preach.
2003-04-18 01:15:54