TAKEAWAYS
Looking the Part: Costume designer Devon Painter has worked wonders in dressing Banks and Panfilio in full-body lizard suits featuring greens, browns, scales and tails; Jessica Lanius’ choreography sharpens the distinctions between them and the play’s human couple.
Facing Up: Swaddled in reptilian garb, Banks and Panfilio depend heavily on facial expressions to convey to Charlie and Nancy — as well as us — that for all the ways we’re different, we have a great deal in common. Both actors succeed, splendidly.
Banks’ Leslie is a stitch as a preening showboat, even as we see that his projected aura of being large and in charge hides fear and uncertainty regarding an unfamiliar world. Panfilio, who also played Sarah in the 2007 Milwaukee Rep production, exudes warmth through eyes confirming the adage that these two orbs are windows to the soul.
