Written by and starring Artistic Producer Ellen Close and Puppet Master Braden Griffiths, My Family and Other Endangered Species is something you cannot miss. It is a piece of theatre that everybody must see, a piece of text that everybody must enjoy, and an experience that everybody must venture on. It is simply wonderful.
The experience is one-of-a-kind, beginning with founder and Artistic Director Simon Mallett greeting and welcoming guests while working the ticket office. To put this into perspective, that would be the equivalent of Colonel Sanders greeting you as you walked into KFC. After grabbing a program and taking a seat in the Big Secret Theatre – which had a capacity of about 70 for this event – you notice a sticky note on the program. To find out what the sticky note is, and its purpose, check out the post about Downstage Theatre Calgary, which talks about what it is, its mandate, its staff, and everything in between. As the lights dim and the show is about to start, Simon “stand-up comedic” Mallett delivers a humorous speech welcoming everybody to the show.
The show starts with Ellen and Braden reciting a line in-sync, as the audience is introduced to the character of Phineas William Walsh. Dealing with his parent’s recent divorce, nine-year-old Phineas Walsh just cannot understand why his parents can’t be as harmonious as animals living in the natural world. Tired of “artificial” human behavior, Phin has developed a special bond with the environment, especially animals. Phin just cannot understand why his parents are not following the principle of “mating for life.” On top of this, Phin is scared to death about how humans are treating the environment. Through a beautifully written script, filled with multiple themes and motifs, My Family is able to captivate the audience right from the start.
Although Phin is the main character, each character is properly established and plays a key role in the progression and storytelling of the play. Among many other characters, Braden plays Bird, and the psychologist, while Ellen also plays the Mom. Switching characters in a heartbeat, with no costume changes, and sometimes without a sound or light cue, Ellen and Braden command the stage with two hours of solid storytelling. Each character, unique and distinct from one another, are portrayed terrifically, and the audience is able to easily differentiate from when the actors are playing Phin, to when they are playing another of their roles. The actors seemingly have developed an intimate relationship with their characters. Each character has their unique voice, personality, attitude and perspective. These two actors are therefore able to masterfully tell a meaningful story that is suspenseful, humorous, creative, dramatic, but most importantly, thoughtful. One theme that is excellently developed throughout the play is this idea of identity. Phin has a hard time understanding why nobody understands him. Why nobody want to hear the truth? The truth about what humans are doing to the environment. The truth about how things should be? Fourth-grader Phin spends the entire play trying to discover his identity, amid all his personal challenges. From being bullied, to having to deal with his parents divorce, to having to deal with the ignorance of the citizens who don’t seem to care about the environment, Phin embarks on an up-hill journey to discover who he is.
With fantastic scenes that are sure to be engraved into your memory for a while, Ellen and Braden have written a remarkable script. The humour is not cliché or overused, nor is it strictly crude and offensive. It is light and creative and complements the dramatic nature of the play. I was just about to make a list of notable scenes that exemplifies what I mentioned above; however, there really isn’t any scene that is not notable. There is no wasted motion in this play. Every scene serves a purpose and is written and acted so phenomenally well that each scene feels of equal importance.
Riley Miljan did an outstanding job of working the cast and crew to create a phenomenal set. About 80% of the set is transformable. Thus, the two settings, Phin’s home, and at his school, are easily differentiable. The fridge transforms into a drawer, Phin’s room into a classroom equipped with a whiteboard. Phin’s bed can even transform into a gigantic creature! The set is thoughtfully designed, providing the actors with everything they need for the two hour show, right from the start. There are no pauses to change set pieces, thus contributing to the fast pace of the play.
The skill and talent needed to execute this piece cannot be overlooked. Braden and Ellen not only had to memorize two hours worth of lines, but also two hours worth of cues. They were able to pull off rapid, crisp, and clean set transitions. Nothing was rushed, and nothing was clunky. Moreover, puppets were used in the show as well. Braden spent over 650 hours hand making each puppet for the show, and while I questioned the purpose of the puppets prior to the start of the show, boy did they make an impact. The puppets act as characters in Phin’s dreams, and the scenes involving the puppets not only help to characterize Phin, but they establish Phin as a character that you just cannot help but sympathize for, and root for. Although at times, Phin is portrayed as a stuck-up brat, this actually is beneficial as it makes him more of a realistic character, for every character needs to have strengths and weaknesses. The dreams involving the puppets especially help to reveal what Phin is going through on many levels. Although on the surface, it may just seem as if Phin is struggling with his moral conscience, deeper thought reveals much more. Instead of telling you what it is, I am now leaving you with a reason to go check this play out.
My Family and Other Endangered Species has so many layers and thus provokes many different emotions, while creating a story that will be with the audience for more than the duration of the show. As the audience begins to peel away at the layers of the story, different understandings are reached, meanings are discovered, and more interpretations are made. This commitment that Downstage has to create theatre that “never sleeps” (in the mind of the audience) is truly exemplified by My Family and Other Endangered Species.
I do however have one, and only one piece of criticism for this show. I was not a big fan of having Phin being portrayed as a nine-year-old in Grade 4. A lot of the meaningful scenes in which Phin questioned the intelligence of society as a whole became diluted by the fact that it simply wasn’t realistic. Although Phin is billed as a genius with “encyclopedic knowledge of the natural world,” some credibility is taken away from some of the fabulous scenes as it is just very difficult to buy into the fact that a nine-year-old would act like how he did at times.
In conclusion, Simon Mallett does an excellent job of helping Ellen and Braden put their project to life. Almost four years in the making, My Family and Other Endangered Species is well worth the wait, and truly has viewers questioning why Downstage, celebrating its 10th anniversary, is still such a small theatre company that is barely recognized. From the opening to finishing sequence, masterful performances are put on not only by the actors, but by the crew. There is at least one theme or motif in the show that everybody can relate to.
