No, it's not a stage version of the animal-filled animated DreamWorks movie (Julie Taymor, where are you...?). Nor does it contain anything more than passing references to the actual island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa. But like the island once was, "Madagascar," the J.T. Rogers drama currently making its West Coast premiere at North Coast Rep, is a mystery waiting to be unraveled.

The action takes place in Rome, above the Piazza di Spagna in a stripped-down hotel room devoid of much other than a bed, nightstand, and a naked lightbulb hanging from the ceiling (nicely appointed by designer Marty Burnett and set dresser Bonnie Durben). Though they all inhabit the same room, we find the three characters of "Madagascar" in three different places in time. Lilian, clearly a woman of privilege in her tasteful sherbet green dress, pearls adorning her neck and ears (costumed by designer Peter Herman), addresses us from five years ago. June, a young woman who has left behind her corporate finance job in New York to guide tourists through the streets of Rome, is in the same room just a few days ago. Rounding out the trio is Nathan, a socially awkward economist who finds himself there in the present.

Christy Yael, Rosina Reynolds and Frank Corrado

Copyright©2008 Aaron Rumley

"People disappear all the time," one of the characters tell us at the play's beginning, and the three characters of "Madagascar" spends most of the time dealing with a young man's disappearance, the details of which are slowly revealed as the play progresses. It's a carefully crafted puzzle Rogers has assembled, and to give away too much would shed the joys of discovery.

The three speak mostly in monologues, interacting with one another only in fleeting passages obscured by the differences in time in which we find them. Rogers' language is full of symbolism, with allusions to works of art like the Eleusinian Relief and Bernini's "Pluto and Proserpina" (shown to us in projections, though they might make one want to pay a visit to Balboa Park at least, should a visit to Rome or the Met in New York not be imminent!). Along with the cerebral, though, Rogers employs a healthy dose of sarcasm appropriate to his hard-boiled upper-class New York sophisticates. Referring to statistics on people who have disappeared, for instance, June use the phrase "foul play," which, she says, has "always made me think of exuberant chickens running around."

Fragment from the Eleusinian Relief

Copyright©2000 Metropolitan Museum of Art

Directed by David Ellenstein, "Madagascar" features strong, nuanced performances by its triad of actors. Rosina Reynolds does what she does best as cultured socialite Lilian, and Nathan's well-intentioned awkwardness is given life by Frank Corrado. With her sad eyes and wispy frame, Christy Yael acquits herself nicely as little girl lost June.

Rogers' puzzle is abetted by the sound design of Chris Luessmann, including moving passages from Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, and M. Scott Grabau's lighting design.

Bellini's Pluto and Proserpina

Copyright©2008 Galleria Borghese

Though definitely not an escapist play for the tired businessman, "Madagascar" is full of discoveries ready to be made by an attentive, actively engaged viewer.

"No matter how lost you are, you must always keep going forward," says one of Rogers' characters. This is, she says, the first of her three golden rules. Though there are moments in which one is likely to find him- or herself perplexed during "Madagascar," Rogers' play is worth every minute of the journey as it propels itself forward -- and backward, and all around -- toward its enigmatic conclusion.

You may even find yourself tempted to return for a second viewing, or, like I did, hunting down a copy of the script to get lost in for an hour or two.

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