THEATRE .... with Lynette Shannahan
The Little Dog Laughed By Douglas Carter Beane
Directed by Michael Gow Q
ueensland Theatre Company Cremorne Theatre, QPAC Until March 13
Ticketing 1800355 528
Last Saturday night the Cremorne Theatre was buzzing with patrons eager to see the opening play for QTC's 2010 season. Theatre-starved over the annual holiday break, they filled the Cremorne and what followed over the next few hours was a clever and deeply witty expose of show business life illuminated by a harsh and somewhat 'camp' spotlight.
Playwright and author Douglas Cater Bean is a veteran of successful Broadway musical and theatre productions and no doubt has encountered his share of celebrity behavior. His focus is the human person beneath the celebrity who is always sought but never completely captured by the paparazzi or the unrelenting tabloid press. The Little Dog Laughed gives the audience an insider perspective to the demands of fame and the incessant maintenance of the “illusion” that the business of celebrity conceals.
The mask is lifted and we are presented with four dynamic personalities busy being 'themselves'.
Celebrity deal broker Diane (Caroline Kennison) is the arbiter of all that is appropriate and 'good for business'. Her client Mitchell (Tom O'Sullivan) is indulging his “slight case of homosexuality” with Alex (Nick Cook), a handsome hustler who is also in a relationship with Ellen (Melanie Zanetti).
Competing goals aside, all four become meshed in each other’s lives with hilarious and unexpected results.
The entire play is set in a New York hotel room with ancillary performance spaces suggested by placement of the actors and an elevated platform office for Diane. The American accents were a surprise at first but superbly performed thanks to voice/accent consultant Melissa Agnew. Michael Gow's direction is brilliant as always.
There were adult themes and even two naked men kissing, but this is 2010 and Brisbane is very grown up isn't it? Was this risky, difficult theatre? Absolutely not! Just another wonderful theatre experience that I know QTC can deliver.
