Uptown Players Presents The Little Dog Laughed
The Little Dog Laughed
by Douglas Carter Beane
Directed by Robin Armstrong
My thoughts on The Little Dog Laughed or… (insert witty zinger here)
Uptown Players presents
The Little Dog Laughed
by Douglas Carter Beane
Directed by Robin Armstrong
The real star of Douglas Carter Beane’s The Little Dog Laughed is Douglas Carter Beane. Beane’s script is relentlessly funny, satirical, sardonic, clever, and filled with enough zingers to keep your head spinning for two hours. This script is pure ear candy. Beane’s satire of “the biz” and its effect on the four players was deservedly Tony nominated and helped win a Tony for Julie White who played Diane, the agent, on Broadway.
Ah, yes, Diane. Diane, the agent who has more ambition than Charles Foster Kane, is our host and guide through the play. Diane, played with verve and (insert superlative adjective here), by Elizabeth Kensek. Kensek, who must be blessed with total recall, has more lengthy monologues in this play than Hamlet has soliloquies and hers are much more fun than Hamlet’s. Kensek can deliver lines filled with deliciously biting humor better than most comics and somehow makes the obsessed with success Diane an appealing character. One has to admire Diane’s almost fanatical work ethic as she tries to keep her client Mitchell Green, a rising leading man, who has a “slight recurring case of homosexuality,” out of the tabloids and secure a script for him that will assure his fame.
Mitchell, played by Kevin Moore, does not make Diane’s job easy. Moore makes Mitchell confident, but without the conceit, of a leading man. At the beginning of the play Mitchell is a man who knows what he wants and how to go after it. He’s not looking for love, but for quick hook-ups from rent boys. The problem arises when rent boy Alex arrives and a burgeoning relationship begins between the two men. The skillful Moore makes Mitchell’s transition from a "get your things and get out please” man to a man who lets down his guard and forms an emotional attachment convincing and the joy that the freedom of love and a bit of openness about his sexuality brings is apparent.
Carson Shofner is the “gay for pay,” sexually fluid Alex. Shofner brings a vulnerability to his street wise character. There is an underlying tenderness in Shofner’s eyes that soften the character of Alex. Shofner is also quite adept at showing the confusion of his feelings for Mitchell. He does not define himself as gay and, in one hilarious scene, tries to find all the words that rhyme with gay. Alex ‘s other relationship is with his friend/girlfriend Ellen, with whom he also has a physical relationship, which brings additional complications to the plot.
Shyama Nithiananda is Ellen, a sort of cross between a Valley Girl, if there were still Valley Girls in 2006, and a hustler, who is not above stealing credit cards from the older men she occasionally escorts. Ellen cares for Alex and cleverly discovers his attachment to Mitchell Green. Nithiananda is a joy to watch as Ellen. She was the big discovery of the play for me, a bit like stumbling upon a goldmine of talent that you didn’t know existed. Her delivery, her presence, her total inhabitation of a character was (insert superlative adjective here).
As captivating as this play is, it would never have worked without the great direction of Robin Armstrong, who has a real gift for placing actors to get the maximum effect, and an equally great design team. Co-costume designers Breianna Bairrington, Suzi Cranford. and Jordan Rodriquez cover everything from an evening gown to bathrobes. Donna Marquet’s scenic design on a turntable provides the ideal “play”ground for the actors whether they are in an upscale hotel or a small Brooklyn apartment. I was especially amazed by Brian Christensen’s sound that never went “scratchy” despite actors taking on and off clothes several times and Amanda West’s flawless lighting was of utmost importance here to highlight the monologues and keep focus where it was needed.
The Little Dog Laughed is yet another jewel in the crown of the Uptown Players. It is an example of when the right combination of play, actors, director, designers, and crew come together and (insert end of glowing review here).
