Pterodactyls proves to be engaging, hilarious, and impactful
By Josh Kolm
Lance Writer
November 26, 2008
 If anyone were to find delight in someone’s alcoholic mother or the inter-sexual affair his or her brother was having, it would be grounds to dissociate from them, maybe even ridicule them. Harassment of character certainly wouldn’t be out of the question.
But it’s hard not to laugh at Pterodactyls, the dark November presentation from the always-impressive Korda Artistic Productions.
Written by Nicky Silver and debuting in 1994 to acclaim and awards, Pterodactyls portrays a moment—possibly the last moment—in the lives of the Duncans, an upper-class family in Philadelphia.
After years spent in New York, Todd (Christopher Lawrence-Menard) returns to the family home to deliver some unpleasant news.
A keen sense of timing, he arrives immediately after his repressive, hypochondriac sister Emma (Fay Lynn) has introduced her fiancé Tommy (Joseph Brosnan) to their overbearing mother (Tracey Atin) and ineffectual father (Robert Godden).
Pterodactyls walks a small ground between screwball and dark comedy. Grave announcements and disturbing relationship are constantly played off by avoidant and insane reactions. AIDs and incest are paired with witty dialogue and off-colour lines. An anatomically inaccurate dinosaur skeleton is hilariously ever-present.
The comedy doesn’t subvert the events, but rather highlights the characters’ faults and shows how foolish they are really being.
The play is many things but absurd is not one of them. Eccentric as the characters and situations might be, they are believably depicted by a capable cast that provides one scene-stealing moment after another.
What is a bit too apparent is that the division between the play’s comedy and tragedy is divided down the middle. It feels like a lost opportunity to not have the hilarious contrast of the first half present during the most jarring moments of the play’s climax.
Granted, these aren’t scenes one would like to make light of, but their impact would not be lost if a little more emphasis were placed on the side-delivered remarks. And these lines are there. They just get lost in the breakneck unraveling of the family happening before the audience’s eyes.
It is an exhilarating and brilliantly executed series of events but it doesn’t match the hilarious first half.
Maybe that’s the point. Pterodactyls is a play that constantly asks whether happiness is obtainable in lives that are prevented in one way or another from being traditionally complete.
When your existence consists of certain death, a lack of real relationships, or memories repressed to the point of identity loss, there is not a lot that can get you a sense of content completeness.
The play provides a particularly grim solution that satisfies the needs of the characters, and in that sense it fits perfectly, even if it is a bit depressing as an audience member.
Dysfunctional families and destructive relationships have become a staple of performance art. There are few topics left in original territory and fewer that provide any sort of surprise or shock value. The advent of more dysfunctional families and more shocking faults on stage and screen has tamed the subject matter, but has not made the play unenjoyable. Wonderful presentation and fantastic performances keep Pterodactyls engaging, hilarious, and impactful.
Pterodactyls runs its remaining shows from Nov. 27-29 at KordaZone, located at 2520 Seminole St. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. Thursday night’s performance is being billed as “pay what you can.” For more information can be found at 519-562-3394 or www.kordaproductions.com.
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