6th Play - 7/6/23 - An American Animal by Katherine Gwynn
I found the name of this play in the article I read about plays in the HowlRound article “Theatre in the Age of Climate Change.” When I went to look it up, it was available to be downloaded on New Play Exchange, and now I have a copy. The title intrigued me, so I chose this one to read without knowing anything about it, except that it maybe touched on something related to climate change?
Summary: "Chloe is a black girl who wants to be a wolf biologist when she grows up. Willa is a trans girl who’s trying to learn guitar to pass the time in Wyoming. Paz is a forest ranger, a woman who’s been watching the wolves for decades. The Hunter is a white man who wants to kill a wolf. And Jack is a jackalope who tries not to get shot. All five of them spend a summer in and around Yellowstone, watching the wolves, waiting with bated breath until summer ends—and the wolf hunting season begins. A play about loneliness, survival, fear, and connection in America." (New Play Exchange)
Loved: Wow, I have to say that from the top of the play I was really thinking that I had picked the wrong play for me to read. I am incredibly sensitive to the death of animals (my husband always changes the channel when anything remotely suggesting that comes on), and as soon as I started reading about the characters watching wolves in Yellowstone, I knew I was in trouble. But, although the wolves are a very important part of the play, the humans are more important, which made this play much more appealing than I expected it to be. The way the humans interact in this piece is so lovely and fascinating. Both Chloe, a Black girl, and Willa, a transgender girl, are wonderfully interesting young people who know from their own lived experience what it's like to feel threatened. So is Paz, the forest ranger and a "butch lesbian" according to her character description.. I've been reading a series of books by Nevada Barr about a forest ranger named Anna who Paz reminds me of, although Anna is straight. But both of them have a wisdom that seems to come from spending a life in the wilderness, and Paz might be even cooler than Anna, sorry Nevada Barr. I mean she knows wolves AND plays the guitar, plus all the other forest ranger stuff ... Anyway, the scenes where all three of them, focused on one common objective, get to know each other and see how similar they are despite so many obvious differences, are just wonderful. And the scenes where Chloe and Willa’s relationship develops are so real and well-written, I had to stop reading and write down some monologues from them. Gwynn's dialogue feels right on for all of the characters, and it's funny and smart and sometimes really sad. The women in the play are real, and the men are more archetypal and abstract, which I loved. I appreciated the more representational characters of the Hunter and Jack, the cowboy-hat-wearing jackalope. And the Hunter is infuriating at times, but he's way more dimensional than just a villain. His love for Walt Whitman makes you take a step back and realize that there is more to him. I was touched by this piece, it was so lovely.
What I didn’t Love: Well, this is a play where you know animals are going to die. And there's a very early scene with a hunter skinning a jackalope, and talking about killing more animals. All of this was very upsetting to me. That being said, I can clearly see why the Hunter is a character in the play - he's important and he needs to learn something along with the rest of them. But I really didn't like to hear all about his need to kill wolves, especially as we are getting to know them almost personally with the women. Jack, the jackalope, is fascinating, and I haven't fully figured out all of what he represents yet, although I think a good production of this would provide that. *** SPOILER *** Ultimately a wolf does die, which I didn't like, although it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and the way it was handled allowed me to feel sad, without wallowing in it or suffering from it, and the ending was very touching.
Overall: I really enjoyed this play. I enjoyed the first part less, because of my fears of one of the wolves dying, but as soon as the character of Willa came in, the human interaction absorbed me so much I forgot to worry about that. Gwynn has a lovely touch with dialogue - absolutely believable from all of the women in the play. As I mentioned, the male characters are more archetypal and they speak that way, but I really enjoyed the magical realism of those two, even if there was no way I was ever going to LIKE the Hunter. And, yes, I do recognize that he serves an important purpose in the play. Even with the death that I had feared, I still enjoyed the play overall, and was quite moved by it. I did think the play was over after the death scene, but the real final scene actually allowed for some closure on that, for the characters as well as the audience, which was lovely and unexpected. And the playwright tied things up with the plot, which I always appreciate. Not a neat and tidy resolution, but hopeful all around, which I always enjoy. (Good ending, woohoo!) I don't know if I could be part of a production of this, but I would definitely want to see a good one. Highly recommended!
Here’s a link to Google Sheets with more info about the play: Play a Day Sheet
If you want to know more about Katherine Gwynn: https://www.katherinegwynn.com/, and here’s an article from HowlRound about the play: https://howlround.com/commons/katherine-gwynn