Reptile specialist Schuyler Baines – “the Savior of Giant Tortoises” and the first female director of the Charles Darwin Research Station – arrives in Galapagos full of ideas and idealism.
Play title: Tooth and Claw
Author (s): Michael Hollinger
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc.
Publication Date: 2010
Genre: Drama
Funder: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
https://sloan.org/programs/public-understanding/theater
Primary Discipline: Evolutionary Theory
Secondary Discipline: Environmental
Scientist (s): Fictional
Source Texts: Unknown
Character Breakdown: 8 Men, 2 Women
Schuyler Baines, Ana Ortega, Malcolm Geary, Carlos Zavala, Gonzalo Reyes, Pedro, Park Oficial, Mendoza, Tito, Jorge
Setting: The Galapagos Islands
Time Period: The late 1990s
Synopsis of Play: Reptile specialist Schuyler Baines – “the Savior of Giant Tortoises” and the first female director of the Charles Darwin Research Station – arrives in Galapagos full of ideas and idealism. But when she becomes aware of an exploding black market that threatens to destroy the islands’ fragile ecosystem, Schuyler shuts the industry down, sparking a deadly, survival-of-the- fittest conflict with native fisherman. A bold, theatrical exploration of evolution, extinction, and the ever-present nature of Darwin’s “struggle for life.” (play text cover blurb, Dramatists Play Service)
First Performance Date: March 11th, 2004
First Producer: Arden Theatre Company
Performance History: Tooth and Claw was originally produced by Arden Theatre Company (Terrence J. Nolen, Producing Artistic Director; Amy Murphy, Managing Director) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, opening on March 11th, 2004. It was directed by Terrence J. Nolen; the set design was by James Kronzer; the costume design was by Anne Kennedy; the lighting design was by Michael Philippi; the sound design was by Jorge Cousineau; the composer was John Stovicek; the dramaturg was Amy Dugas Brown; the assistant director was Steve Pacek; and the production stage manager was Patricia G. Sabato.
Tooth and Claw was subsequently produced by Ensemble Studio Theatre (Curt Dempster, Founder/Artistic Director; Jorelle Aronovitch, Producer; J. Holtham, EST/ Sloan Project Program Director) and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Doron Weber, Program Director) in New York opening on April 15th, 2004. It was directed by Dave P. Moore; the set design was by Jennifer Varbalow; the costume design was by Amela Baksic; the lighting design was by Jason Teague; the sound design was by Joanna Lynne Staub; and the production stage manager was Glenn Cooley.
Links:
http://www.curtainup.com/toothandclaw.html
https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/regional/philly/phil2.html
http://www.theatermirror.com/CRtoothclawzeitgeist.htm
https://www.backstage.com/review/tooth-and-claw_2/
Entered by: Meaghan Yesford
Photo/Visual Research with citations
Michael Hollinger
