FeeJee Mermaid – Tampering with Nature
A FeeJee (or Fiji) Mermaid became commonplace in sideshows from documented first sale to a ship’s captain in 1822. Thought by unbelievers to have been created in Japan, the creature combined the torso and head of a juvenile monkey sewn to the back half of a fish, probably an orangutan and a salmon. Its mouth was wide open, teeth bared.
P.T. Barnum exhibited the original (it was extensively recreated) at his museum. He described it as “an ugly dried-up, black-looking diminutive specimen, about three feet long.” Hardly what fairy tales envision. Unless you know the above, there’s nothing in the program, much of this macabre play will mystify.
Niccolo Walsh (Lyman), Duane Ferguson (P.T.)
The art of taxidermy, for the purpose of display or study, has been around since mid 1700s. During the Victorian era, it was used as décor. Animals were posed executing human actions, often costumed. Hunting trophies are perhaps the best known employment of the art. Some commissions arise from love of a pet. Taxidermy achieved second life interest in the early 20th century “with anatomically accurate figures which incorporated every detail in artistically interesting poses, with mounts in realistic settings and poses that were considered more appropriate for the species.” Wickipedia
In 2004, the term “Rogue taxidermy” was coined by a group of artists combining parts of various animals to create fantastical creatures. One can buy a rabbit head with antlers, a goat with wings and a fishtail; a multitude of mythological animals. See Sarina Brewer online for best examples.
Morgan Zipf-Meister (Lisette), Niccolo Walsh (Lyman)
The play: The 19th Annual Taxidermy Championships bring four old friends/rivals together. Griffin (Adam Files) has grown up in the business. His family company is sponsoring the event. An egotistical former practitioner, he secretly hates what he does and has this year commissioned nerdy, insecure Lyman (Niccolo Walsh) to compete so that his own hands remain clean. A mounting of two hares has multiple discovered flaws later used to torment Lyman who talks to his creation. Having “stuffed” 78 kitties this year, he desperately wants to rise to higher levels of fauna.
Griffin is also present to see the particularly gifted Lisette (Morgan Zipf-Meister) whose ability to portray “spark” is highly valued. Last year the two had an affair, after which he ghosted her. She ignores him in sympathetic favor of Lyman, helping him execute a few small repairs with jerry-rig tools from her fitted-out fanny pack.
One of only two women in the event, Lisette has secretly apprenticed herself to the blowhard P.T.
(Duane Ferguson) former award winner in the mixed life category. “I want to see hairy trouts, six-foot long horseshoe crabs…” If God can make a blue-footed boobie and armadillo, why not…? She plans to outshine him.
We see LIsette under Griffiin’s earlier tutelage, but unexplained transition from the present is so swift,
it’s difficult to know when we are at first. In the present, she delivers a lecture on how to make a FeeJee Mermaid, scraping off scales and delicately separating the skin of a fish. Something more repellent might’ve been more effective.
Technique is alluded to in fascinating, specific terms. Some is viscerally understandable but without a glossary, other materials and practices are incomprehensible. Welting, for example, is a doubled edge, strip, insert, or seam (as on a garment) for ornament or reinforcement. One hare needs it badly.
The piece is a battle royale for Lisette, first prize, and respect. Originality is featured not only in subject matter, but Machiavelli misrepresentation and a gruesome finale. Were it less psychologically complex, it might make a fine Twilight Zone episode.
Playwright Clay McLeod has written an unusual and compelling piece that needs clarification. It also needs much better direction. Pete Boisvert favors volume over intense expression, flailing and cliché over believable pain. Too much is outsized, drawing us away from sympathy and believibility. The actors do their best with Morgan-Zipf-Meister most credible.
Props and Effects Design by Stephanie Cox-Connolly are excellent.
Photos by Kent Meister
FeeJee Mermaid by Clay McLeod Chapman
Directed by Pete Boisvert
The Flea Theater
20 Thomas Street
Through November 2, 2024
