Animals In America

A Critical Review of Busch Gardens Europe's More Pet Shenanigans

The theatrical sequel, that rarest of birds, has taken flight at Busch Gardens Europe this season, and not since Tony Kushner's Perestroika crashed the boards in the early nineties has that bird reached such great heights.

Continuing where the incredibly provocative Pet Shenanigans ended, More Pet Shenanigans reintroduces Part One's heroine, Dorothy (Andrea Gregson), and her doomed lover, Samson (Turbo), as they engage each other in a heated battle of wills.

"Leave me, Samson! And look upon your Dorothy never more!"

Of course, Dorothy's unexpected, violent death at the hands of Samson is merely preamble to the disturbing events to come, as Evelyn Ratchet (Lucy Drummond in a star-making performance) enters the play's bright Irish lane to work as a fireman. Drummond's scarlet hair is eerily reminiscent of a young Margaret Thatcher, leading this critic to remember the words of former President George Herbert Walker Bush who, upon meeting Ms. Thatcher, said "this gender thing is history." For during her first meeting with the man who will become her mentor and reluctant lover, Simon Hanks (a suitably mysterious Pumpkin), Evelyn explodes the gender myth when she exclaims, "Who is a good boy? Is it you?" And she repeats: "Is it you?"

"Who is a good boy? Is it you? Is it you?"

The question, of course, is not answered by Simon, nor can it be. Simon, it seems, is not the philosopher he pretended to be in Pet Shenanigans. Rather he represents humanity at its most perplexed moment in time, staring at an uncertain, unknowable future with only the guideposts of faux-enlightenment to guide us. And as the play progresses, those guideposts become increasingly easy to misinterpret. By the time the tragic Gregor Krain (Hamilton) decides to embrace his destiny, ignoring Evelyn's pleas for him to "Stay!," we are left with a sense of utter despair.

"My sweet Evelyn, I fear not the danger, for I must have eggs!"

In contrast with the complicated storytelling of the bulk of the play, the conclusion of More Pet Shenanigans is startlingly simple. Rather than leading his many characters to satisfying, tidy ends, the author chooses instead to undercut the epic scope of his tale with a garish pun. Gregor simply delivers his final line - "For if life is but a series of disconnected events, it is the the dark silence that I shall cherish." - and turns upstage. The bright present is eclipsed by darkness that, like More Pet Shenanigans itself, leaves us reeling.

"It is the the dark silence that I shall cherish."