The Animals and Me / The Raven Playhouse / Los Angeles

Reviewed by Ethan Silver

Venture into a world where animals can talk, read the newspaper and share an acute political awareness.  Welcome to the opening night of The Animals and Me.  Pianist Billy Revel plays as you enter the Enchanted Forest, home to animals aplenty and the local restaurant, the Mountain Café.  Here, the animals gather to discuss life as they eat their meals and drink their coffee.  But these animals are discussing more than just the weather, as recent events have been causing quite a stir in the animal kingdom.

The story focuses on the plight of Wolfy the wolf (Meyer Deleeuw) whose property has been purchased in a deal between Contractors Inc. and the government to use the land for economic development.  Senator Doggy, the only proponent of the wolves’ cause, has been murdered and now the animals must band together and stand up for their rights granted by the constitution of the United Animals of America.  Wolfy and the rest of the wolves fear for their lives while their properties are confiscated and families forced out.

While visually appearing to be a lighthearted fable, Animals and Me features strong overtones of political opinion directly applicable to real life issues.  Writer / Producer / Director Vinnie Torrente softens the blow by commenting via the perspective of cute and innocent animals.  Several aspects of constitutional rights are discussed including eminent domain, freedom of speech, the right to gather and the misuse of government and big business in interpreting and upholding these rights.  According to the play, the practice of democracy is challenged by greed and laziness and thus calls for citizens to rise to action to ensure that these rights remain intact.  Be ready for overt opinions that come on strong and at times, preachy.

The characters are well played by the ten talented actors in the cast, each with unique mannerisms and ways of speech appropriate to their respective animals.  The characters are well written, likable and relatable and include animal favorites like Mr. Bear (Chris Sloan), Tom Cat (Kyle Clare) and even pig-nosed police officers (Cynthia Webber and Matthew Dorio).  From the sheepish, soft spoken Sheepy (Jeff Williams), to the wise and judicious Mr. Owl (Joshua Grenrock), to the musical cafe owner Chicky (Julie Barry), the actors share their talent both in their creativity as well as in dress, thanks to Costume Designer Brett Weidlich and Makeup Artist Kelsey Doonan.

Acts I and II take place in the Enchanted Forest and the Mountain Café with impressive set design and use of space for a small stage.  There are several scene changes in this act which will no doubt tighten up as the run continues.  Even so, the number of blackouts and concurrent silence is distracting and could benefit from a measure or two of piano in between to maintain the flow.  The acts also include songs sung by Julie Barry which stand alone without an introduction.  Although beautifully sung and obviously relating to the political ideals of the story, these songs need to either be integrated into a scene or prefaced in some way in order to work with the rest of the piece.

Act III is by far the most well-written and presented of the four-act play, as the characters appear in court to present their case.  The honorable Judge Gorillo (John Moskal) presides over the proceedings.  Moskal is incredibly entertaining as he embodies his apish animal in every movement and line of dialogue down to the last grunt.  The plaintiff is represented by attorney Mr. Katz (Mark Rebernik), also very convincing and fun to watch as a shrewd and conniving feline.  With the addition of a few lines to wrap up some loose ends, Act III can serve as a great ending to the story but Torrente instead decides to include a fourth, which does nothing to detract from the story, but does not add anything either.

Along with Co-Producer Julie Barry, Torrente has created a fun show ten years in the making, with a message that appeals to people of all ages.  Children will follow the plight of the animals while adults follow the political plotlines in this entertaining and creative production.

The Animals and Me plays at The Raven Playhouse on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 7:00pm, through December 12^th.