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The gorilla house

Posted by DCA Theater on March 18, 2011 in January-June 2011 Season, Precious Little

by Meighan Gerachis, “Brodie” in Precious Little

Observe Gorillas at the zoo?  Really??  What about tagging along on a police patrol (throw in some target practice)?  Or researching the Elizabethan curtsy (a notoriously stiff affair- the arms were stretched out to the side with the hands resting on the edge of the farthingale).  That would be cool new stuff.  One of the best parts of being an actor is getting to inhabit another skin, often using a factual, researched jumping off place.  The zoo, though?  I know all about the zoo.

OH NO I DI-ENT!!!

From the first time we went for the photo shoot, when we were lucky enough to be in the Regenstein Ape House before the zoo opened, I was affected in a way I could never have anticipated.

I was so compelled by the way everything the gorillas did was “uncontaminated by ambivalence” as Ms. George says. I know about the bonds between humans and their domesticated animal friends, but this was different. I was always just a little scared, even though there was no possibility of them coming through the glass. When I was 5, my father told me not to close my closet door when I slept, or else it would activate the elevator from hell and the giant grey apes with the red eyes would come up.  I think I’ve moved past that, because this fear was more of an excited eagerness to connect. In an instant, I understood this character I’m playing (Brodie) and why she returns to the zoo again and again to be with these creatures. I went many more times and sat quietly, telepathically willing one to come over close and visit with me. It was rare, but when one would hang out next to me, I felt so comfortable and hoped the moment would linger. We actors never really know what will turn the key and open the world of the characters we play. It can be a conversation, a piece of music, or a good sandwich. In this case, it was the sureness and serene beauty of the gorillas at the Lincoln Park Zoo that made me know why Brodie would seek consolation from them when she is so petrified of her own vulnerability.