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The Little Dog Laughed
By Douglas Carter Beane
Directed by Eric Rosen
Produced by About Face Theatre
At Hoover/Leppen Theatre
At Center on Halsted
3656 N. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL
Call 866-811-4111, tickets $30 - $45
Wednesday thru Fridays at 7:30 pm
Saturdays at 2:30 & 7:30 pm
Sundays at 2:30 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermsion
Through February 17, 2008
"The only ones who can be whatever they want are white, upper-middle class, straight, conservative, Protestant men," offers Mitchell
“You've become so good at telling lies, you can even fool yourself” --- Diane, the agent who's nobody's fool, to Mitchell, her movie star client who "suffers from a slight recurring case of homosexuality" which, having moved from the depths of the closet poses a threat to his chance for a big career leap.
--Quotes from The Little Dog Laughed
Mary Beth Fisher leads terrific cast in a smart modern satirical comedy of manners.
Douglas Carter Beane writes 21st Century characters in the stylized lyrical dialogue reminiscent of Noel Coward or Philip Barry. Beane gives each of the four characters a zinging wit laced with sarcasm. Director Eric Rosen, in his About Face final directing gig, has cast four excellent Equity players led by the devilishly sly and delicious heartless Diane the Hollywood agent played in a fabulous turn by Mary Beth Fisher. From the opening monologue, we hear about how Diane and Mitchell (the sexy Lea Coco) are friends, associates and business partners as Diane “handles” Mitchell toward stardom in Hollywood. Problem: Mitchell likes to hire rent boys. Daine believes he must stay in the closet so she can move up from being his agent to his manager and partner in a movie deal she is negotiating. When Mitchell meets Alex (Levi Holloway), a local rent boy, he falls in love and wants a relationship (whatever that means) with Alex. Alex is torn between his desire for Mitchell and his identity as a straight guy seeing Ellen (Heather Prete).
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The world of celebrity, hypocrisy with lots of deception and image handling is brilliantly satirized. We see how shallow stardom can be and how even poor party girls like Ellen often survive through manipulation and deceit. Beane is a talented writer whose quips and one-liners together with his biting satirical monologues offer loads of humor presented through elegant language. You’ll laugh at all four characters but you’ll howl at Diane, the agent who is forever negotiating to “make everyone happy.” The outrageous ending shows who the shallow, weak ones are and who is the truthful, strong one.
Mary Beth Fisher gives a tour de force comic performance that you’ll long remember. She is in award territory with her commanding performance.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: January 15, 2008
Jeff Recommended
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