Four Dogs and a Bone by John Patrick Shanley
By Carolin Kopplin
If you had a friend you would eat him.
John Patrick Shanley won an Academy Award for his screenplay for Moonstruck in 1988 and was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for the screenplay adaptation of his Tony-winning play Doubt. His Hollywood satire Four Dogs and a Bone was first produced off-Broadway in 1993 and is now presented by Rock ‘n’ Roll Theatre in the intimate Phoenix Artists Club. Packed with hilarious one-liners, the play features four Hollywood stereotypes - a hardened producer who struggles to keep the shoot on budget, a starlet who expects to become a big star as long as she sleeps with all the important people and continues chanting “I’m famous,” a fading Broadway star who tries to escape the label of character actress by landing the female lead, and a principled but naïve screenwriter.
The play opens as the air-headed Brenda shares her “incested” family sob story with producer Bradley. Bradley fakes interest but he is far more concerned about the exploding costs of the film that could be significantly reduced by some drastic script changes. He counts on Brenda’s help to persuade Victor, the screenwriter, to cut about ten scenes of the script. Brenda is sorely tempted by Bradley’s idea that she become the central person of the movie in exchange for her help. However, first time screenwriter Victor is determined not to compromise his script. He is particularly adamant that the lead character Johnny dies in the end. Fearing that the negative ending will turn the film into a negligible art house picture, both Brenda and former Broadway star Colette, who has her own agenda, want Johnny to live, preferably saved by their respective characters. They are also striving to have the other's part reduced or written out altogether. For the time being they form an uneasy alliance to save the movie and their careers from certain doom.
The script is tightly written and the acting and comic timing of the cast is perfect. Amy Tez is hilarious as ingenue Brenda, Laura Pradelska has some of the funniest lines as the tough and caustic Collette, Joe Jameson is a nervous and overwrought Victor, and Daniel O’Meara impresses as the morally flexible Bradley.
Until 20th August
Phoenix Artists Club, 1 Phoenix Street (off Charing Cross Road), London, WC2H 8BU
Call: 0207 836 1077 or book at fourdogs.moonfruit.com
Tickets: £10/£8
'Five Twelfths' - Producer's Club Theatres, New York
By Luke Tudball‘Twelfth Night’ is, perhaps, one of William Shakespeare’s best-known and best-loved comedies. It is, therefore, done all the time, and not always well. Happily, this production does not fall into that category and I found myself laughing along with the rest of the audience. Premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and now hittingNew York with an all-new cast – Dramatic Stuff brings its memorable cast of characters energetically to life.
The story is, as with most of Shakespeare’s comedies, deceptively simple. Just when you think you have an angle on what is happening, someone throws a curve-ball and more zany antics ensue. Dramatic Stuff have opted to up-the-ante even more with this production casting only five actors to play around twenty roles, but the gamble pays off in Luke Pebody’s madcap adaptation and direction.
We begin fairly sensibly, with a messenger, Cesario, but right away things start going awry when we find out that in reality Cesario is not only not male or a messenger, ‘he’ is really a ‘she’ – Viola, a young lady on the search for employment. She has disguised herself to improve her chances of getting a job, which is fine until she falls for the Duke, who of course, thinks she is a man. Not only this, but Lady Olivia then falls for Cesario, who is really Viola!
Confused yet? Well there’s more to come and more after that. Dramatic Stuff rattle through it and have trimmed the play to fit their diminutive casting and for the most part, it goes very well. At times the plot is confusing, and the larger than life characterisations of Sir Toby Belch (Anastasios Filactou) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Chris Braca) at times can be a little too much, but on the whole ‘Five Twelfths’ does not fail to please. Ashley Martinsen is fantastic as Olivia and her own maid Maria, and Kevin Lapin serves up a fine Malvolio.
Pebody has obviously worked with the ‘bigger is better’ philosophy and the almost circus style of this show is tantalizing. I wonder though if there are moments of subtlety to be found in this elaborate plot with it’s many twists and turns. Clever use is made of the stage and the minimal props and set contrast nicely with the cast performances. This may not be full ‘Twelfth’ but they are certainly alright on the night.
‘Five Twelfths’ can be seen at the
Subscribe
