Jane Goodall (Brittany K. Allen) and her mother, Vanne (Kristin Griffith), set off for research in Tanganyika in Michael Walek’s Have You Met Jane Goodall and Her Mother?
Jane Goodall is a renowned zoologist and primatologist who, at almost 91, has the distinction of being a household name. The new play Have You Met Jane Goodall and Her Mother? is a breezy telling of her origin story and path to success. Written by Michael Walek, it presents the biographical and historical facts of six months that Goodall spent in Tanganyika while conducting her observations of chimpanzees, but with the addition of three possibly imaginary fellows she meets there. Her facts, and their fiction, make for a winning mash-up.
First some facts. The play covers a period in 1960 when Jane (Brittany K. Allen) and her mother, Vanne (Kristin Griffith), were in Gombe Stream Reserve in what was then Tanganyika. The local authorities had not anticipated that the scientist from the British Museum would be a woman, so they insisted that the “girl scientist” have a chaperone. The only person Jane could recruit was her mother, whom she described as “a housewife with no education or skills.” However, mother Goodall was more than up to the task of helping her daughter in delightful and unexpected ways.
Jane meets with Game Warden David (Tommy Heleringer, center) and the socialist Adolph (Jordan Donalson).
Traditionally and academically unqualified, in spite of a recommendation from the esteemed paleontologist Louis Leakey, with whom Jane “worked” briefly, Goodall managed to secure a grant for her study. Her passion for her work enabled her to thrive, with the assistance of some historically nebulous fellows. One, in this production, might have existed, while the other two were imaginary friends conjured up by the playwright. All are jolly additions to the story.
Jane’s research took place during considerable political changes in Tanganyika. The country was a British colony, but an August referendum had been scheduled to decide whether the country would remain a colony or break away as a socialist country. (The socialists carried the day, and the country was renamed Tanzania.)
“[Goodall’s] passion for her work enabled her to thrive.”
Representing British rule is an uptight game warden, David (Tommy Heleringer), who comments ruefully, after the Tanganyikan people vote out British colonial rule, “It was a tremendous blow to an Englishman. I just can’t believe anyone wouldn’t want us in charge. Look how well we’ve handled everything.”
On the optimistic side, Adolph the socialist (Jordan Donaldson) looks forward to independence. “Our first step was to kick them out, but now we must get rid of their ideas,” he says. “And, I’m beginning to realize, that’s going to be even harder.”
Now the fiction. The imaginary friends all present as gay, so there are campy references to Oscar Wilde and Noël Coward’s worst play, Molly’s Folly, and his existential question from the musical Sail Away: Why do the wrong people travel? These clever comic characters add variety to the tedium of observing chimps.
After weeks of no sightings, animal tracker Short (Rami Margron) arrives and easily solves the problem of finding chimps. He also knows how to travel in style, even in the jungle. He gives a tour of his tent:
Now. Don’t be too impressed. This is the dining room. Right here. This is, over here, this wing of the tent is the solarium. It’s where I … solar-y? This is the kitchen. The staff is mostly in there. This is the library.
Animal tracker Short (Rami Margron) and Adolph, who has changed his name to Moses after independence, look at Tanzania’s new constitution. Photographs by Valerie Terranova.
In Walek’s script, all the characters provide the stage directions and plot developments, breaking not only the fourth wall but occasionally speaking in the third person: “Jane: Okay back to me. On July 14, 1960, Jane arrived at Lake Tanganyika.” Characters also speak to themselves sotto voce but within the audience’s earshot, often contradicting their lines. Nevertheless, helped by director Linsay Firman, this unusual approach makes for a fluid theatrical experience, as there is a lot of detail, both real and imagined. Firman keeps the pace brisk for a two-hour, 20-minute production.
One of the play’s strengths is its sense of discovery and whimsy. The full extent and scope of Goodall’s discoveries is not revealed until the end. For example, Jane’s mother leaves the project a few days early without explanation. To address the lack of a reason, the explanation is given during the deafening blast of a steamship’s horn. Silly—but understandingly so. Some things cannot be explained.
For this production, the answer to Coward’s question—”Why do the wrong people travel?”—is simple. If one travels with Jane and her mom, the answer is to learn and laugh.
Have You Met Jane Goodall and Her Mother? runs through March 30 at the Ensemble Studio Theater (545 West 52nd St.). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; matinees are at 2 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday. For tickets and more information visit EST at ensemblestudiotheatre.org.
