The Little Dog Laughed: A hack's view.

Let's get one thing straight; I'm not a theatre reviewer. I'm a cycling journalist who knows a cyclist who works in theatre. The old adage "it's not what you know, it's who you know" holds true in this scenario. While I know more about handlebars and chains than ad-libs and breaking a leg (and although that can happen in cycling, you wouldn't wish it upon someone embarking on a ride), I'm always up for some entertainment of the non-two-wheeled kind. So it was off to Downstage to experience The Little Dog Laughed.

As with most things I undertake in the course of a typical day, my mind was a blank canvas, with only a cursory glance at the facebook blurb about the play for ammunition. Basically, I had no idea what I was about to see.

The premise of The Little Dog Laughed is, in a nutshell, famous actor with suppressed homosexuality falls for rent-boy with brassy girlfriend, but can't make it public for fear of career destruction and wrath of controlling, outspoken agent. The result is a web of deception, lies, and internal struggles with how to deal with the situation. Hey, I said it was in a nutshell!

Without going too much into the actual plot, I enjoyed the story, and was kept interested for the whole two hours, something I thought I may have struggled with when I saw the length in the preview. The acting was very impressive on the whole, although I wondered if the American accents were necessary for an NZ production of a US play... probably, but what do I know about theatre? I found the character of Dianne to be hard to understand on occassion, with her rapid-fire vocal delivery. Most of all I found the character of Alex to be the most human and accessible, but all the actors delivered great performances. New Zealand's got talent? For sure.

And it was definitely a better way to spend a Wednesday night than watching Ice Road Truckers!