Live Alligator Wrestling Review Flashback

I was cleaning out some old email and came across this review of the last (and final) play that I was in at the Florida Players called Live Alligator Wrestling. This may already be posted on the website, but just in case, here's a snippet of the review...

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The plays, touted by LiveArts as "world premieres" (accurate but a bit pretentious), are David F. Smith's Wallace Stevens at Key West, Doug Cooney's Live Alligator Wrestling and Jeff Whipple's The Cutting Edge of Amenities. They're billed as "The Floridians 2005," part of LiveArts' occasional series of Florida-influenced work.

Only one of the pieces works.

Cooney is an immensely charming and insightful writer and performer whose works combine quirky, low-key comedy and subtle poignancy. Live Alligator Wrestling, based on the story of Owen and Pearl Godwin, the founders of Orlando's Gatorland, doesn't have the emotional depth of some of his best work, but it's still clever, amusing and quietly poignant.

Cooney gives us the Godwins (played wonderfully by Pete Bauer and Susan Alexander) from early adulthood into middle age. Owen Godwin surprises his young wife by turning their back yard into an alligator pit, the beginning of Gatorland. She is not amused. But Florida is crawling with gators and tourists, he argues, so it makes sense to bring the two together.

As a devoted wife, Pearl dutifully runs the attraction while her husband travels the country acquiring exotic animals. In the end, Owen seems to know more about alligators than his wife and reacts awkwardly to her plea for warmblooded companionship.

The story gets a big charge from three local theater talents whose work hasn't been seen much on professional stages of late. Alexander and Bauer show a real fondness for their characters, and director Roz Potenza displays a nice touch with the delicate material.