The LBJ/LASA Theatre performed The Island of Doctor Moreau which is based on the book written by HG Wells. This wacky play is about a mad scientist who tries to turn beasts into humans.

The LBJ/LASA Theatre performed The Island of Doctor Moreau which is based on the book written by HG Wells. This wacky play is about a mad scientist who tries to turn beasts into humans. The outstanding acting and incredibly detailed makeup makes an unusual plot very interesting. At the same time it raises some interesting philosophical questions about god and what truly defines something as being a man.

The Island of Doctor Moreau began with Edward, the protagonist, waking up on an island because his boat crashed there. In the beginning, there were frequent flashbacks and dialogue explaining a little bit about him and how he wound up on the island. When Edward arrives on the island he quickly winds up talking to one of the beast men who realizes Edward has five fingers. This is something which the beast men associate with importance, presumably because they lack five fingers and the people with power don’t. The beasts think Edward is a beast man and read their laws to him and explain a bit about the workings of the island as they understand it. However, the doctor persuades Edward that there will be severe negative results if he stays because it would ruin his research and Edward would likely end up saying or doing something that would get them all killed. One of them mentions to the doctor that they saw Edward with meat, which is against their law, so they try to kill him but he is saved by the doctor who says that Edward is like him and his assistant. Edward then explains that one of the beasts was actually the one with the meat but they had left it and it looked like he had it. This freaks out the doctor and the assistant who then ask Edward to try to find the beast. When they find this beast known as The Leopard Man he attacks the doctor and they both end up dead. This leads to the beasts almost rebelling because they decide that if the doctor is dead then so is the law, but Edward says the doctor is up in the sky watching them.

The acting was very good and many of the actors did a good job of staying in character. I liked that several of the actors tried to speak in a British accent the entire time. In the scene where the doctor was killed I liked that although everything was a little chaotic and the characters were panicking, what was going was still clear. I didn’t like that on several occasions you could tell very easily that the fighting was fake. Lastly, I felt like everyone wasn’t sad enough when the doctor was killed, I would have definitely expected the assistant ...

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In general the technical theatre was very good with a few exceptions that I’d relate mostly to the performance I saw being a dress rehearsal. Such as the loud crash and once that I recall when the stage lights seemed a little odd, I think it might have been during a flashback. The lighting effects used in the flashback worked really well, the way most of the stage got dark was really effective at showing it was a flashback. The cool backdrop definitely helped to further show what was a flashback, because it ensured there was never any confusion about if something was a flashback or not. The mountains which flipped around to be the lab were a really good idea and worked well because both ways looked really good and it made it so that the scenes changed pretty quickly. All the props were good, but I especially liked the Sayer’s staff. The staff seemed to fit with the character well and immediately gave you an idea that he was important to the beasts. I can’t really think of a sound effect other than the metronome which did an awesome job of showing that the doctor was crazy. The costumes and makeup were far and away my favorite, especially the one beast who jumped out at the audience. Also, I liked the leopard, because it seemed almost monstrous but yet still a little human like.

The play was outstanding, and I really enjoyed it. One of my favorite things was the excellent makeup, costumes, and props because those did a good job of making it seem real, well as real as a story about turning ferocious animals into humans can seem. Regardless, the excellent acting, which was far above what I was expecting for a high school performance, helped to keep the audience engaged in the odd plot of this story. However, by far my favorite part of this theatrical production was the philosophical questions it raised.

PS: I might have gotten the names confused since I didn’t have a program.