'St. Francis' writer/star riveting in moving ode to people and dogs

Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll, Cape Cod Times
·2 min read

The show: “St. Francis”

Written by: Miranda Jonté; directed by Jason Mellin; presented by Cotuit Center for the Arts

What it’s about: A passionate and often contrary veterinarian (played by Jonté) who runs a California dog rescue struggles to care for the animals and people she loves while learning to trust that humans, not just dogs, can help to heal her. Challenges she faces include her shelter about to be displaced by a Starbucks, her beloved teen assistant trying to get into college, and dealing with some people’s inhumanity to animals.

Miranda Jonte wrote and stars in "St. Francis," now playing at Cotuit Center for the Arts.
Miranda Jonte wrote and stars in "St. Francis," now playing at Cotuit Center for the Arts.

See it or not: This moving production feels like picking up a good book and being parachuted, and welcomed, into a small community filled with quirky residents who look out for each other and have histories together — with the beauty and joy of the human-dog connection as a through line. Some aspects of their lives are left unexplained and unexplored, but the gaps are remedied by the acting, directing and writing success of this group creating characters you come to care surprisingly deeply about in just 100 minutes.

Highlights: Jonté is extraordinary as prickly, fiery, righteous Tessa, who will take on the world and put herself at risk to protect the dogs she adores and feels driven to help. The smallest movements of her face and body tell as much about Tessa as Jonte’s own script as she struggles to find, and accept, her place in her community. Jonte is backed by a strong cast led by Mellin, excelling in both direction and his warm characterization of old boyfriend Will, and Emma Fitzpatrick giving infectious, jubilant energy to vet wannabe Molly.

Fun fact: Shelter mascot George is played by real dog Laszlo, the first canine actor ever in the Black Box theater at the Cotuit Center for the Arts.

Worth noting: In the tiny theater space, the show’s backdrop is a wall with chalkboard paint, where various cast members note locations, scene names and, most tellingly, progress with the health and adoption status of the shelter’s dogs.

One more thing: In a curtain speech, Mellin jokingly warns about the foul language in the script, but perhaps more troubling to some will be the explicit descriptions of how some people have cruelly abused the dogs taken in by the shelter. That treatment sears Tessa’s soul, and may haunt you afterward.

If you go: 7:30 p.m. May 19-22 and 26-27, plus 2 p.m. May 15, 22 and 29  in the Morton and Vivian Sigel Black Box Theater at the center, 4404 Route 28. Tickets and information: https://artsonthecape.org/explore/st-francis.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cotuit theater: 'St. Francis' writer/star excels in people/dogs ode