Review: DETC's Production of ENDANGERED SPECIES is Thought-Provoking and Superbly Performed.

Desert Ensemble Theatre (DETC), in Palm Springs, is presenting ENDANGERED SPECIES, a richly layered work written by founder and producing artistic director Tony Padilla. Mr. Padilla directs a fine ensemble cast that does justice to the difficult material in this unsettling play.

The script involves two couples separately vacationing in New York who, a few minutes apart, independently discover a live newborn in a Central Park trash can. I am giving away nothing important to the play by assuring potential audience members that the newborn survives. The baby is a catalyst - a McGuffin - to explore how the individuals respond. The almost nonexistent plot and minimal suspense concern the discussion within each couple regarding what to do.

The couples, one straight (Bonnie Gilgallon and Alan Berry) and one lesbian (Yo Younger and Denise Strand), at first seem deceptively normal. They are middle-class, educated people from the midwest who enjoy visiting New York to absorb the city's cultural offerings. After their discovery, however, as they each argue between themselves what to do about the baby in the trash can, the veneer disappears. In one couple, we discover a cold, calculating individual whose pragmatism knows no bounds. In the other, we find someone attempting to heal deep wounds. Within each, the person with the more normal reaction must struggle with the partner regarding what seems obvious to the audience.

A play like this could easily descend into melodrama in the wrong hands. However, to their credit, Mr. Padilla and the four actors resist the temptation to turn the characters into hysterical creatures. Mr. Padilla picked his players wisely. All of the actors are award winners or nominees, and it shows in their convincing performances.

When I saw ENDANGERED SPECIES, many of the mesmerized audience members remained behind, talking with each other and the actors and director regarding what they had just seen. Mr. Padilla said that his goal in writing the play was to make people think, and that no two people respond the same way. ENDANGERED SPECIES certainly gives the audience members a great deal to consider, such as whom they hold responsible for the baby's plight; whether there can be such a thing as being too involved; and whether a couple can remain together after discovering a disturbing personality trait about his or her partner.

This play is for theatergoers who seek out serious drama. Although the subject matter and the revelations about human character are disturbing, the rewards of attending far outweigh the discomfort.

Performances take place at the Pearl McManus Theatre, in the Palm Springs Woman's Club, 314 S. Cahuilla Road, (two blocks south of Palm Canyon Blvd.), in Palm Springs, California.

ENDANGERED SPECIES will run through March 20, 2016, on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m., and on Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 each ($21.69 including service fee), plus tax. Call 760-565-2476 for tickets or more information, or consult the web site, www.detctheatre.org. (Scroll down to the bottom of the home page to find the ticket sale link).

DETC's 2015-16 season concludes with Joshua Harmon's BAD JEWS, April 8-10, and 15-17, 2016. This biting comedy - an off-Broadway hit in 2013 - explores family, faith, and what being "chosen" means to different people.

Photo Credit: Jerome Elliott

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