Trevor

• Further Reading

  A Note from the Director

  In 1995, a three-day-old chimpanzee named Travis, was adopted by Sandra and Jerome Herold. Raising him in Stamford Connecticut, the Herold’s made Travis their constant companion. Travis would ‘advertise’ and promote the Herold’s towing business as he rode with them during the day, and would greet police officers they encountered when towing cars. Travis learned to open doors using keys, dress himself, water plants, feed hay to his owners’ horses, eat at a table with the rest of the family, and drink wine from a stemmed glass. He logged onto the computer to look at pictures, watched television using a remote control, and brushed his teeth using a Water Pik. He enjoyed watching baseball on television. Travis had also driven a car on several occasions.

  As an animal actor, Travis had appeared in several television commercials, including spots for Coca-Cola and Old Navy. He had also appeared on The Maury Povich Show, The Man Show, and a television pilot that featured Sheryl Crow and Michael Moore. When Jerome died from cancer in 2004, and the Herolds’ only child died in a car accident, Sandra Herold began to regard Travis almost as a son; sleeping and bathing him, pampering and treating him as such. Though Travis managed several ‘escapes’ over his life with the Herold’s, Sandra still viewed the chimp as rational, and believed in being able to reason with him.

  But in February of 2009, the then-14-year-old, 200-pound chimpanzee viciously attacked neighbor Charla Nash (as she was attempting to help Sandra coax Travis indoors after an escape), biting and tearing at her face, blinding her, severing her nose, ears and both hands and severely lacerating her face.

  This dark comedy examines the personification of animals for our own benefit; bending the imagined relationship toward our desires. When assuming their actions to be attempts to communicate and bond with us in a deeply meaningful way, it is possible to construct a kinship with animals with all the amiability and simplicity of a child with his or her stuffed bear—ignoring the animal within. This examination is for anyone who has looked into the eyes of an animal and thought “I wonder what they would say if they could speak”. I wonder if we would listen....

  —Christopher Niess, Director

  Special Thanks

  We'd like to give a special thank you to Diane Beatty and the Center for Great Apes. Please consider supporting this organization, which provides permanent sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees who have been rescued or retired from the entertainment industry, from research, or who are no longer wanted.

• Cast

  Cast*

  1. TrevorColton Butcher (U/S Daniel Annone)
  2. Sandra MorrisMaddie Tarbox (U/S Danielle Engleman)
  3. AshleyVictoria Gluchoski (U/S Nicolette Quintero)
  4. JimEric Eichenlaub
  5. OliverCarlos Ashby
  6. AD/JerryLucas Perez
  7. Morgan FairchildAlyx Levesque

  Creative Team

  1. DirectorChristopher Niess
  2. Fight Director Jordan Reeves
  3. American Sign Language Consultant Abigail Cline*
  4. Stage Management Advisor Claudia Lynch
  5. Stage Manager Conor McKeever*
  6. Assistant Stage Managers . Rachel Kartiganer*, Morgan Moots*
  7. Scenic Designer Michelle Ware*
  8. Faculty Advisor (Scenic) Bert Scott
  9. Costume Designer Krystel* Colon-Mendoza
  10. Faculty Advisor (Costume) Daniel M. Jones
  11. Lighting Designers Matt Ardoin* and Vandy Wood
  12. Sound Designer Anthony Narciso
  13. Props Master Jessica Karlen*
  14. Production Manager Gary Brown
  15. Technical Director John Heil
  16. Assistant Technical Director Alyssa Marinello*
  17. Master Electrician Haleigh Dunn*
  18. Costume Shop Manager Daniel M. Jones
  19. Lighting Supervisor Matt Decker
  20. Light Board Operator Jared Zonne*
  21. Sound Board Operator Stephanie Frosch*
  22. Run Crew Cherise James*, Tiara Jeffers*
  23. Wardrobe CrewMichael Formisano*, Amanda Hornberger*,
      Kristen Pellot*, Allie Sawicki*

  * Student at UCF (all cast members are students)

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