In the Adam Rapp show, “Animals and Plants,” currently running at The Gershwin Hotel ; nothing is as it seems. The bougie guido may look like he stepped out of the Jersey Shore outtakes, but he’s really doing the downward dog. His puzzled friend on the bed may look like Linus, but he’s got a tipping point. There is a machete named Mikey, a cactus that looks like a dildo, a dude in bearskin, and a girl who wears Birkenstocks in a blizzard. And that’s just the surface read.
“Animals & Plants” is running in conjunction with Derek Ahonen’s “Pink Knees on Pale Skin” as “Hotel/Motel” in an epic afternoon or evening of live theatre presented by The Amoralists.
During my recent interview with Adam Rapp he spoke at great length with his fascination with the energy and talent of The Amoralists. Rapp said that this young company was a great opportunity for him to dust off some of his earlier work and give it another go. “Animals & Plants” is one of Rapp’s shows which has never had a NYC production before now. He told me that the correct aligning of all the right elements allowed this show to happen at The Gershwin Hotel.
During “Animals & Plants” the whole room is outfit with seats; literally there is audience sitting amidst the action. While Rapp told me that portions of the show had to be tweaked for the staging, the atmosphere of this claustrophobic room was spot on for this staging. This type of theatre is not for everyone but the intimate space of the pair of shows sure makes for an entertaining afternoon.
The story follows Burris (Matthew Pilieci) and Dantly (William Apps) drug runners stuck in a blizzard in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Their banter begins easily enough; their dialogue is reminiscent of Didi & Gogo; the exchanges were effortless and rhythmic. Modern audiences may understand them as an existential Wayne & Garth or Bevis & Butthead.
As a viewer I got the impression that these two cats weren’t generally accustomed to being stuck in any one place for too long. Burris keeps himself occupied with various yoga poses and other shucking and jiving.
Dantly meanwhile is having a crisis of conscience; questioning his decisions for the last decade and wondering aloud. As he’s attempting to equate meaning from any of it, he’s also nursing a strange addiction which could inspire a new episode of “My Strange Addiction.”
Burris goes out to get a shovel to try and dig their car out of the 17 inches of still falling snow, Dantly falls asleep, and hyper-reality ensues. The action stays in the motel room and Dantly is visited by a sweet girl he’d met earlier in town. These two have an immediate attraction despite the guys shyness. Just as they’re hitting it off a nervous Cassandra (Katie Brown) tells Dantly two things which change the attitude of the afternoon for everyone.
For a split second there is a glimmer of hope for a happy ending from an Adam Rapp play. These hopes are short lived though and the whole house of cards falls around these three characters. While the violent ending and spooky surrealism may not say anything prolific, pathos is there. “Animals & Plants” is worth it if for nothing more than the experience of live theatre in an in-your-face venue.
Adam Rapp has always demanded rapt attention from his audience; his pairing with The Amoralists over the two shows I’ve seen have certainly had a payoff which stays with you.