Thursday, November 29, 2018
‘The Ferryman’ on Broadway: How The Animals Get Onstage
www.vulture.com: Among a cast of dozens playing an extended Northern Irish family, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and even babies, the breakout stars of The Ferryman may well be the animal actors. Jez Butterworth’s play is set in a 1980s farmhouse on the eve of a harvest, and the characters freely interact with the livestock, including a live bunny, a Netherland Dwarf rabbit named Pierce, and, in a brief-but-striking moment, an Emden goose named Peggy.
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There have only been a couple of shows I've seen in my life that had animals, and they were mostly dogs, usually offered up by a crew member for a couple of nights. I rarely hear of animals like rabbits and geese being used. This has definitely got to be shocking to see on stage, especially for an audience that is most likely expecting a fake animal prop (if at all) and some top notch acting to cover up for that. I really applaud them for how well they treat the animals, such as closely monitoring them in case they get nervous on stage. It sets a good example for others in the business who may want to use animals in productions, and helps practice good habits so that no animals will end up being harmed. It's also crazy the amount of work that goes into the upkeep of animal actors. Especially since any one of these animals will only be on stage for a little while, it seems like a lot of work. That speaks a lot to the vision of the show, and is probably one of the reasons why The Ferryman is so successful (top of the notch realism). I have heard a lot of really positive things about The Ferryman, and because of all these articles I very much want to see it, so hearing about the treatment and use of the animals is just another reason why I think people should check this show out.
This sounds like a nightmare for the stage manager and those directly responsible for the animals and a delight for everyone else that is involved. When animals on stage are done well, they can add a lot by bringing an element of realism to the theatre that is hard to get with just people, but when they are handled poorly, they can be a terror. I have only worked on a production with live animals once (The Wizard of Oz, we had a live Toto), and it was a great experience, but the dog peed on the actors more than once, and often failed to grasp the concept of blocking. Overall, it added to the show to use an actual job, but it certainly was exhausting. With less trainable animals like rabbits and geese, I can't even imagine the effort required to keep them in line, much less to keep them performing at a satisfactory level.
As a 5th grader whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up I was very clear I wanted to direct dog movies with animals galore, so it doesn't surprise me I loved this article. Animals and theatre are easily my two favorite things so anytime they combine its like a dream come true, although I can understand the logistical struggles. At my high school we had a show that needed a live chicken and the student volunteer for wrangling the chicken had a time trying to keep it off the desks in its assigned classroom. I’m also sure the music theory students who had to smell its lingering leftovers during the day weren't ecstatic as well. To me animals in a show is a huge logistical struggle but it can also pay off real well. To me its a huge draw. Personally I was so excited to see Once On This Island once I learned not one but TWO separate goats involved. Overall having live animals in a show is a logistical struggle that has to be balanced with other things, but that doesnt mean I want them any less
It is a known statement in the theatre industry that you should never work with animals or children. This stems from how difficult it can be to work with them. For a production to have animals requires a lot of time and money. Money wise the production will need to hire an animal trainer, animal care taker during the show, the actual animal and its understudy. On Broadway working with animals have become easier with the help of Bill and Dorothy Berloni who basically train every animal on Broadway. The two of them have worked with such a variety of animals on Broadway and they do a great job training them. When the PSM of Once on this island came and talked to our class he explained how they trained the animals in his show and it’s so interesting. Their training would include walking up and down stairs for weeks as the song played in the background. What Bill and Dorothy have done has really made a huge impact on working with animals in theatre
I am always interested in learning about how different companies and productions solve various logistical issues. The rigamarole that is required to have live animals on stage is about as challenging as expected (although the rule about no water fowl within New York City limits is an odd wrench in the operation). I have a few further questions, though: if the animals start freaking out on stage, what do the handlers do? They talk about how they don’t force the animals to perform if they’re spooked, but it seems unlikely that they remove them from the stage during a live performance. Secondly, how does the wardrobe/costume department deal with the inevitability of an animal voiding on a costume? I imagine that they have chosen fabrics that are resistant to damage and easy to clean, but do they also keep spares backstage so the actor does not have to live with the stench through the whole performance?
Okay, I’m not a huge fan of the whole “animal actor” thing. I think that to bring an animal into a high intensity situation like live performance is not only unpredictable – regardless of the amount of conditioning or training – but also traumatizing to the animal, who isn’t meant to be indoors let alone in vehicles and on stage under light, etc.
I understand that many writers and directors think that having live animals is pivotal to the performance of their piece – think Wizard of Oz or Annie – and in some cases I do think that it adds to the overall performance of the piece, and it is much more believable and enjoyable than having an actor in a dog suit or something like that. But logistically and empathetically I don’t like the idea of having animals on stage, though it is on a smaller scale, long term the same problems arise as having animal performers in the circus, namely neglect, misbehavior, and trauma to the animals.
The first time I saw a live animal onstage I was immediately fascinated by how all of the logistics worked and what needed to go into a show in order to support live animals. Usually with most shows there is one or two animals in the entire production, a pet dog or a small rat or something similar, but the scale of animal involvement in this show is so large that I was really interested in how they handle all of the logistics surrounding that. I really appreciated the mention about looking out for the health and safety of the animals, and I would have never considered that an animal in a show would or even could have an understudy. I also was amused by the fact that they have to leave the theatre to avoid interrupting some of the more dramatic scenes in the show, which apparently occurred towards the beginning of the run.
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