THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED: Children's Rhyme for Adults

Mark Crispin Miller, noted media critic and author, once said to be an effective nonfiction writer, never, ever use a cliché, even if you think it is appropriate. Be original. I believe this concept applies to fiction writing as well.  That being said, Douglas Carter Beane's play, "The Little Dog Laughed," has its share of theatrical cliches, but as Broadway has shown us, cliches can be crowd pleasers (RENT, anyone?).

Beane's characters may be familiar, but memorable--the worldwise-cracking, tough-mom-type talent agent Diane (Shannon Maddox); Alex (Ryan Haase), the befuddled, gay "rent-boy" with a heart of gold; Mitchell (David Gregory), the equally befuddled actor on the rise, and Ellen (BriAnna Carter), the silly but sharp young girl who only wants to have her baby, but being rich and famous wouldn't hurt either.

I've seen various incarnations of these characters, typically in Woody Allen or Neil Simon comedies. But what's wrong with that?

Alex and Mitchell fall in love, or at least lust; Ellen absconds with an old (as in years) beau's credit card, Diane struggles to keep her client in the closet, balancing her ever-present beverages, wine/cocktail/margarita, while navigating the legal and neuroses-laden waters of Hollywood filmdom-it's all stuff-n-nonsense, as serious as the children's nursery rhyme from which the play gets it name. The result, however, is a perfectly enjoyable evening of whimsical theater, but only if you leave your sense of reality at the door.

Outside of movies like Pretty Woman, do Johns and their tricks really fall in love? Diane (actor Shannon Maddox deserves an award for all the costume changes she makes throughout the course of this 2-hour production) declares in the first act that "I'm a lesbian, he's (Mitchell's) a fag, we're in show business, we're a perfect couple." If that's true, why fight so hard to keep Mitchell's sexual orientation out of the public eye? What is this, 1958? Furthermore, it would seem both Mitchell, who has no qualms with soliciting a male prostitute, paying him, but not having sex with him, and Alex, who makes his living having sex with men, but doesn't believe he is gay, are both in a state of denial so severe as to defy all credulity. And Beane doesn't provide enough lines for Ellen to develop beyond two-dimensions.

It's all contrived, but the hilarity of the lines - Diane's reading of a motion picture film contract was priceless - and the play's energetic pace more than Make Up For any disconnect from reality. And besides, there is still a message in this play about people who are so busy struggling to get what they want they're blind to what they really need--what will it take to make you truly happy?

The set is simple; a New York hotel bedroom, circa President Reagan era, i.e. lots of chrome and black paint and oversized art. There were a few gaffes; one of the stage spotlights went out in the middle of one of Ellen's monologues, and there was the occasional trip/overlap of lines, but nothing serious in this, the first production of Teatro 101 (described in the show program as "a troupe with common artistic goals" and a "commitment to diversity and an intercultural exchange").

THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED runs now through August 2nd at the Mobtown Players, 3600 Clipper Mill Road in Hampden. To purchase tickets, please call 410-467-3057 or visit www.mobtownplayers.com.

 

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