By Ernest Kearney — The Puckwit Gang’s Chimpskin is a stylishly clever history of Lucy (1964-1987), the chimpanzee raised by Maurice and Jane Temerlin, as a human child. Lucy was even taught American Sign Language in order to communicate with her human “parents” and would come to use some 140 signs, even arriving at the point where she would use two separate signs to convey new thoughts.
Conceived and directed by Ben Landmesser the show succeeds in both relating the history of the experiment with Lucy and in questioning the morality of doing so.
The ensemble of Christian Gnecco-Quintero, Frannie Morrison, Rebekah O’Kelley and Pablo Castelblanco all do solid work, and the music by Nathan Nonhof on the didgeridoo brings a perfect note of the surreal to the experience, but the show succeeds because of Damla Coskun whose commitment to the role of Lucy is so intense that you are blinded to the actress’ humanness and unable to escape the animal’s humanity.
A GOLD MEDAL.
♦ ♦ ♦
Chimpskin
Playing During The Fringe at the
Los Angeles LGBT Center
1125 North McCadden
Los Angeles, CA
For Schedule and Tickets
Chimpskin Features:
Damla Coskun
Christian Gnecco-Quintero
Rebekah O’Kelley
Pablo Castelblanco
Frannie Morrison
and
Nathan Nonhof
Stage Manager:
Meagan Truxal
Director / Producer:
Ben Landmesser
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