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Saving pets, stirring souls

THEATER REVIEW
By Kerry Reid | SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE
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If you tear up while watching Sarah McLachlan's public service ad about adopting shelter pets, then you are definitely the target audience for Tim Maddock and Lotti Louise Pharriss' play "Because They Have No Words," now in its local premiere at Piven Theatre. But even those who consider themselves immune to the charms of furry four-footed companions should find much to admire in Maddock's fascinating and compassionate account of his animal-rescue efforts in the chaos of post-Katrina Louisiana.

Maddock, a Los Angeles-based actor with local roots, decided to volunteer as a way to salve his own grief, a year after the death of his mother. What he found was equal parts good intentions and prevailing prejudices, aimed at both people and pets. A Starbucks provides Maddock his first glimpse at regional racial tensions in an encounter between a white manager and black employee—the latter a refugee from the Crescent City. Later, one of Maddock's fellow volunteers, a young black man, says dismissively of Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, "Nagin ain't black. He's Creole." On his first day out on rescue, Maddock, a dog owner, is paired with a cat lover from Canada (Marla Caceres, in a hilarious portrayal) who makes it clear that she doesn't plan to expend efforts in canine relief.

Emilie Beck's direction and her cast of six, all of whom play multiple roles (except Maddock, who plays himself) nimbly and effectively flesh out the incidents that add to Maddock's growing awareness of how devastating the situation truly is.

While searching for a dog in a small hospital, Maddock finds a bitter message scrawled on a mirror. "Dear Boss: Hope you enjoyed your vacation while you left us here to die."

With small adjustments in physicality and accents, the actors evoke characters across a wide range of ethnicities, ages and socioeconomic classes. Courtney O'Neill's set, a sculptural assortment of found-object detritus, evokes the surreal landscape.

In one chilling moment, Maddock plays his flashlight over the walls, revealing just how high the water rose in a house where an animal had been left behind. But despite the undeniably grim subject matter, Maddock and Pharriss' script contains many witty insights into the best and worst of human behavior under unimaginably trying circumstances. The story only veers toward the heavy handed in its attempts to evoke Antoine de Saint-Exupery's "The Little Prince"—a "wolf dog" rescued by Maddock stands in as the fox from the classic tale and coyly reminds him, "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." But those inclined to judge people who left their pets behind as they fled the storm will find those knee-jerk assumptions turned inside out by this carefully crafted and heartfelt play.

"Because They Have No Words"
When: Through June 22
Where: Piven Theatre, Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Tickets: $25 at 847-866-8049

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