Not only is Ashley Rose Wellman’s Kill Shelter one of the most remarkable new plays I’ve seen in a very long time, it’s the best Theatre of NOTE production I’ve reviewed since the company’s streak of winners in the mid-2010s.

As its title suggests, Kill Shelter takes place in and around an animal shelter whose “open-admittance” policies mean accepting each and every dog and cat dropped off on its doorstep, no matter the animal’s adoptability as a pet.

And let’s face it. Not many of us would be willing to adopt one of the shelter’s sick, injured, aggressive, or elderly animals who get euthanized on a daily basis to make room for a slew of new ones arriving day after day after day.

Nor would many of us be willing to undertake the kind of soul-killing job that provides 34-year-old single mom Colleen (Nadia Marina) the means to support herself and her 17-year-old daughter Ellie (Chloe Madriaga), nor is Sacramento’s Northside Animal Shelter the place where UC Davis student Brady (Alex Hogy) would be doing his pre-vet school internship if he had his druthers.

Completing Kill Shelter’s cast of characters is Ellie’s classmate/crush Nolan (CJ Craig), son of a preacher man and president of Ellie’s latest passion, the afterschool “Life And Liberty Club,” news that doesn’t sit well with Colleen when she learns that animal euthanasia tops the list of L&L’s causes, and even less so when Nolan shows up at Colleen’s shelter to lecture her about matters she understands a whole lot better than the young whippersnapper.

It’s a combustible mix made even more stressful by a job that requires Colleen to euthanize unwanted animals on a daily basis, something that is slowly but surely draining her soul as she imagines the last thoughts of each and every creature she’s about to put down, from the abandoned greyhound struck and maimed by a hit-and-run driver to the bull terrier trained to be a killer to the sweet and gentle senior Labrador who’s never done a bad thing in his entire life.

With a teenage daughter grown increasingly rebellious, a cute young intern grown increasingly attracted (and attractive) to her, and a job grown increasingly unendurable, it’s no wonder Colleen finds her plate full these days, and when history threatens to repeat itself where her daughter is concerned, it seems increasingly likely that things are about to reach crisis level.

I can’t recall the last time a script has touched me as deeply as Wellman’s, nor a production moved me to tears as frequently as Kill Shelter, which might make it tough going for some, but trust me, you’d be missing out on a lot if you decided to stay away for fear of using up an entire box of Kleenex.

You’d be missing out on Wellman’s nuanced, richly layered characters, you’d be missing out on Shaina Rosenthal’s sensitive, incisive direction, and you’d be missing out on Marina’s gut-punching star turn as Colleen, a performance that only grows in power and depth as the play progresses.

You’d also be missing out on the three canine puppets imaginatively designed by Emory Royston, each one manipulated and voiced to deeply touching effect by a different one of Marina’s costars.

Madriaga is rebellious teen perfection as Ellie, Hogy makes Brady a bona fide charmer, and Craig’s Nolan manages to be as entertaining as he is a thorn in Colleen’s side.

Adding to Kill Shelter’s impact (and its professional patina) every step of the way is Matt Richter’s absolutely sensational sound design, a mix of pop, indie, and alternative hits that turns ominous with the designer’s original music whenever Colleen gets out her syringes.

Hayden Kirschbaum’s superb lighting design complements Wellman’s script and Richter’s sound design every step of the way, Colin Lawrence’s animal shelter/studio apartment set is an ingenious, cluttered wonder, and Mariah Harrison’s just-right costumes complete one of Theater Of NOTE’s best production designs ever.

Kill Shelter is produced by Niall Sulcer. Amberlee Clark, Alexandra Hellquist, Evan Marshall, and Kayla Marie Peterson are associate producers.

Clark is assistant director. Royston is puppet coach. Anise S. Hines Theus is intimacy coordinator and Melissa McNamara is intimacy/movement director.

Grace Temblador is stage manager. Philip Sokoloff is publicist.

Not since Theatre of NOTE was on a roll with such winners as Rio Hondo, Entropy, and Possum Carcass have I been as bowled over by a NOTE World Premiere as this one. Simply put, Kill Shelter is Los Angeles intimate theater at its must-see finest.

Note: The actors reviewed here comprise Kill Shelter’s Blue Cast and alternate performances with Red Cast members Jack Clevenger, Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson, Ashley Romans, and Brandon Warfield. See website for each cast’s performance dates.

Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga, Hollywood.
www.theatreofnote.com

–Steven Stanley
August 31, 2023
Photos: Julie Lanctot

Tags: Ashley Rose Wellman, Los Angeles Theater Review, Theatre Of NOTE