Review: “The Artificial Jungle”

An explosion of tropical passion in a Manhattan pet store, brought to you by a cast of both abled-bodies actors and artists with disabilities

Anita Hollander, Alyssa H. Chase, David Harrell, Rob Minutoli & Anthony Michael Lopez in The Artificial Jungle. 

Photo by Carol Rosegg

If you can imagine a play that is an homage to The Postman Always Rings Twice in the first act, and a parody of Thérèse Raquin in the second, all of it generously peppered with Mel Brooks’ camp, you can get a taste of The Artificial Jungle. Produced by Theater Breaking Through Barriers, a show celebrates a 50th anniversary of The Ridiculous Theatrical Company, established by Charles Ludlam, the author of The Artificial Jungle. Everett Quinton, who played Zachary in the original 1986 production, directs the ensemble of abled-bodies actors and artists with disabilities, keeping in line with the mission of the Theater Breaking Through Barriers.       

Roxanne (Alyssa H. Chase) and Chester (David Harrell) have been married for some time and are running a pet store in the lower East side, together with Mother Nurdiger (Anita Hollander), Chester’s mother. From the perspective of the overly enthusiastic man-child Chester, it seems like 1975, the year he got married, was just yesterday. He can’t stop jumping excitedly around his wife giving her “suction cup” kisses. From the way Roxanne cringes from disgust and whips her cheek annoyed, it seems like at least a decade had passed since the couple got together and Roxanne is just eager to get the burden of their marriage off her shoulders.

The opportunity presents itself when a drifter, Zachary Slade (Anthony Michael Lopez), responds to a help wanted add posted in the pet store window, shamelessly faking his knowledge in fauna. So here we have: a promiscuous wife, a deluded husband, an affectionate mother, a naïve family friend – police officer Frankie Spinelli (Rob Minutoli) - and a newly acquired store assistant, as they are torn between moral choice and engulfing passion.

Oh, and there are also piranhas. I was surprised to not discover them on the list of characters. Operated by Satoshi Haga, the piranhas don’t merely swim back and forth in a giant tank like your average fish. The school watches TV, vividly reacts to the interactions of humans, and ultimately plays an important part in their “soup-operetta”. To avoid spoilers, lets just say, that piranhas are completely free of morality.

The comedy progressively escalates to a farce as it nears the ending.  Alyssa H. Chase, playing a seductive vixen, carries a huge part of it with her grotesque, melodramatic performance. She moves like some exotic bird, resembling Lilli Taylor in Arizona Dream. Her passion born of boredom quickly finds an opening for a long nurtured fantasy to run away from her husband, but also acquire the family business and to become the crowned queen of her jungle.

The set design by Bert Scott and costumes by Courtney Butt blow the topic of tropics to a ridiculous scale. The walls in the store/apartment are painted with lianas; even the sheets on the bed and costumes of the storeowners in the beginning have jungle flora patterns on them. The agony of color and tacky taste receives a second breath, powered by the flashes of light parodying thriller and horror films.                        

            

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The Artificial Jungle runs at Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, through June 25th. The running time is two hours with one intermission. Performances are Tuesday - Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday - Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 3pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $52.25, available at 212-239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com. For additional information, visit www.tbtb.org.

The Artificial Jungle  is written by Charles Ludlam. It is directed by Everett Quinton, produced by Theater Breaking Through Barriers.

The production team includes Bert Scott (Set and Lighting design), Courtney Butt (Costume Design), Julian Evans (Sound Design), Charles Bowden (Props Design), Vandy Wood (Puppet Designer), Satoshi Haga (Puppetmaster/Fight Captain), Andre Sguerra (Production Manager), and Steve Asher (General Manager).

The cast is Alyssa H. Chase, David Harrell, Anita Hollander, Anthony Michael Lopez and Rob Minutoli.