I've only seen the play once, and I've never written a theater review. But it seems to me that the play was about understanding, rather than language - a crucial difference.

Focusing on language entirely misses the subject of tension in the play - whether or not Brodie will choose to have or abort her unborn child, a child at risk of disabilities that may (or may not) prevent it from communicating normally. Brodie is an intellectual whose work and life revolves around language; if the focus of Brodie (and the play) were language, then her choice should be clear - to abort and start again, as her graduate student points out. And yet the choice isn't clear for her - and perhaps more importantly, isn't resolved or revealed at the end of the play. Because the play doesn't ask us to understand her choice - whatever it may be - but to understand, instead, how difficult and challenging that choice can be - regardless of the outcome.

Furthermore, why write a play where the main character is a linguist trying to preserve dying languages? The literal interpretation might be: because it's a play about language. A more profound interpretation might be: because it allows the play to explore the role of language in understanding. Brodie and the gorilla don't communicate with language - but they nevertheless communicate and, in some ways, find understanding in each other. Brodie and her partner can speak freely (and both are linguists, furthermore) but the more they do speak, the more obvious their mutual lack of understanding becomes. Neither Cleva nor her daughter - nor the audience - understands Brodie's academic monologue about the linguistic significance of Cleva's dying language. Neither Brodie nor Cleva's daughter understand the personal significance that the dying language has for Cleva. More than once, we listen to a stream of discourse from the observers outside the gorilla's cage. All these words say little about language, but a great deal about understanding.

It seems to me that the meaning of any play comes from what you experience, what you feel, and how it makes you think. And I recommend this play to anyone interested in a thoughtful and evocative performance.

From the beginning, sounds like a story about a degenerate, selfish woman. Pregnant lesbian? Engaging one of her students? Probably closer to reality in many universities, Professors who lack common sense and morals.

Best performance by an actor (actress, in this case) on any stage in years: See 'Precious Little' at Annex Theatre. Taryn Pearce (as 4 major characters and a crowd of minor ones) is one of those rare actors who can disappear completely into a role. Every thought is the character's thought, and every thought is real. You can hardly believe it's the same physical person inhabiting the different roles. The play is engaging, but the real miracle is Pearce's performance. Anyone who cares about acting should see this show. Until August 31.