MAP’s “Year of the Rooster” – strong production, very different subject

Shane Regan in a cock fight in Year of the Rooster (Dave Hastings)

Year of the Rooster

MAP Theatre

(at 18th & Union)

Through May 5, 2018

The thought of cock-fighting or dog fighting turns my stomach. Those activities are emblematic to me of how low human activities can get. I’ll admit, however, that I have zero knowledge about the people who might be involved in such “sports” and why they might get involved in them. So, it was with a bit of trepidation that I sat down to experience MAP Theatre’s current show, Year of the Rooster.

It’s said to be a “dark comedy” and some moments might be said to be funny… The cast list was certainly solid and the crew included the talented set designer Suzy Tucker, deftly rendering three very different locations in the very tiny room at 18th & Union to become a tarpaper house, a McDonald’s counter and a circle on the floor where said cock-fighting takes place.

The play is about a small town loser named Gil (Brandon Ryan). We don’t know how far he got in school, but we first see him doing a clearly customary job taking a drive-up order at McDonald’s and we learn he’s been there five years. We also find out he lives with his disabled mother (Mia Morris) and has been raising a young chicken with steroids and Chicken McNuggets so it will be fierce and angry.

 

We meet the personification of this angry young rooster, too. Played with panache and intensity by Shane Regan, we get to hear all of Odysseus Rex’s thoughts and feelings as he trains and eats and gets ready for he-knows-not-what. But we know he’s to fight for his life, soon.

Gil is goaded and bullied and abused by the town cock-fighting master, Dickie Thimble (Lantz Wagner) who also came from a nothing, poverty-ridden beginning, but has succeeded in becoming a very big bully-man in a small town.  Dickie is Gil’s ticket to getting in the big fight and it is no sure thing to get there.

In this short play, the fact that Rex actually defeats Dickie’s prize rooster is not the surprise and happens before intermission. It’s essentially what Gil does with the win that seems to be the point of playwright Olivia Dufault’s play. While the second act is not as effectively written as the first, we see Gil lose and then lose some more. It gets darker and darker. Even so, the play is compellingly acted and intrigues because these are not characters you see every day on Seattle’s stages.

Ryan is a past master of strange and unlucky oddfellows. He gives these characters, and Gil in this production, layers of heart and drive and always must be watched at all times. There is never a dull moment when he is on stage.

Wagner surprises with the confidence and braggadocio of Dickie, who is pretty much just bad all the way through. It’s a very strong performance.

Morris uses a lot of levels in her portrayal of Giil’s confused, manipulative, benighted mother. She’s sort of funny and all pitiful. Dufault has her do some unjustified things, and her character is underwritten, but Morris does a great job.

The small role of the McDonald’s young manager is played by Zenaida Smith, whose character, Philipa, seems to have a bit of a liking for Gil, but Gil misplays it, of course. Smith lets us peek into her feelings while she gives a side-eye to him and she’s very enjoyable to watch, too.

Director Peggy Gannon has a firm idea of what she wants and gets it. It’s not a play that will appeal to everyone, but it doesn’t have to. It’s still worth taking a chance on for solid acting and a little exposure to folks who don’t live in your neighborhood.

For more information, go to www.map-theatre.com or https://roostermap.brownpapertickets.com/ or call 800-838-3006.