In the futuristic society where "Rain. Some Fish. No Elephants." is set, there is perpetual rain, fish are endangered and elephants have become extinct due to global climate change. These details set the backdrop for Y York's exciting play.
Upon walking into the Balch Arena Theater for this show, the audience will immediately be confronted with an extremely fun and colorful set design. Ted Simpson's scenic design confronts the audience with brash oranges and blues that mesh perfectly with the timbre of the play. Virginia Johnson's costume design is filled with kooky colors and a unique combination of past and futuristic influences.
Director Downing Cless correctly characterizes the action as "always fanciful and fun-filled," but also "subversive and dangerous." It is at first a ridiculous and comical portrayal of the modern American family. At the same time, the show makes an important statement and raises many pertinent questions, forming a kind of "hybrid of 'Father Knows Best' with 'Dune.' 'Rain' crosses yet another line, inducing a question or comment perhaps with every laugh," Cless said.
Y York's fantastic reality plays on issues that plague society today, such as racism. Black people are chemically controlled with "stoppers," pills that severely reduce mental function and force them into servitude by the all-white populace. Senior Will Shaw plays a character named simply "Blackie." This character's development forms the backdrop for the action throughout, with Blackie undergoing a powerful transformation over the course of the play.
Shaw carefully brings his character from complete servitude to independence and free thought. "We see a black man as a person with a full range of emotions and thoughts and problems," rather than strictly as a stereotype, which he inarguably is when the character first appears, Shaw said.
Along with racism, York tackles the issue of the environment with equal force. Global warming has brought the onset of perpetual rain to the Chesapeake Bay area, where the play is set. Sophomore Ben Samuels plays the protagonist Gene, an eccentric, brilliant scientist with a penchant for fishing. He illegally sails into the bay, only to find out that water has now encroached past the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The constant rain is a glimpse at the many harbingers of climate change's devastating effects.
In this rainy future, Gene and his daughters are the only people left in the world who have not been genetically engineered to be mindless drones. Society no longer reproduces through pregnancy; instead, humans are manufactured in test tubes. Gene is the only person, or at least one of very few, who can complete this process. He refuses, based on principle, thereby threatening the very existence of this so-called human race. Samuels lends a lovely whimsical nature to Gene; making him excitable as he is principled.
Three divisive and interesting issues shape this intriguing play: racism, global warming and genetic engineering. Through Cless' deft directorial touch and fantastic work by the actors and crew, the show comes together in what can be viewed as both a comedy and a harrowing social commentary. One must not forget, though, the deeper message that may be partially obscured by what is a really hilarious show. "Lurking beneath the shimmering surface ... is the revelatory depth of the colossally horrific consequences of current-day systemic racism and environmental denial carried to extremes," Cless said.
What is particularly poignant about "Rain..." is the inevitable fighting back, exemplified by senior Molly O'Neill's character Emily, a 12-year-old girl with a deformed foot. O'Neill manages to capture the essence of the character, whom she says "acts as a catalyst for a lot of the action because she is a point of real vulnerability for the family."
This, of course, is because deformed individuals are normally "eliminated." It is through Emily, along with Blackie, that the audience gains a fresh look at the problems at hand, as the characters transform and discover their new identities.
Will Shaw, who gives real life to the hero Blackie, summarized 'Rain ...': "The show is feather tickling, frighteningly funny and gut-wrenchingly moving and poignant in all of its wackiness."
