Still shaking my head in amazement after seeing “DOG” a Surreal SoReal theatre production at The Roxy. It isn’t too often make it out to the theatre and less often that I feel moved so greatly that I want to review it the same night.
The best way I can describe how this play made me feel was to travel back in time to when I saw the movie “American Beauty”. As everyone filtered out of the theatre after seeing American Beauty you could hear the popping of new synaptic pathways being formed within the brain.
The same held true for “DOG”. I described it to my friends in attendance with me as “Like watching a techno song instead of listening to it”. The story had so many layers I felt as though even on the edge of my seat to take it all in I might have missed a few. Artistically with all the special effects, audio, video, lighting, and stage arrangements I was blown away. I can’t say I have ever been to a play remotely similar. I found myself scanning the set for things in the story I might have been missing. I remember at one point I was watching the videos projected on the wall and Edward and Vally acting down stage and I suddenly realized Lupus was acting as well up stage. Very subtly. Noticing that though added much more depth to the scene.
I was very impressed with Edward (Jon Lachlan Stewart) and Vally (Sarah Sharkey) their movements were so precise and yet fluid. I found myself drawn to Lupus (Vincent Forcier) most throughout the play. The range of characters he had to play and the emotions and expressions on his face were captivating.
My thanks and praise goes out to the actors and entire production crew. My brain will be processing and enjoying “Dog” for days to come. I highly recommend seeing this play before it closes on the 27th of this month. I caution you that this may not be your cup of tea if you don’t enjoy multiple trains of thought and major doses of sensory stimulation.
PS I said to the stage manager (Dana Strauss) after the show “Where on earth did that gigantic paper wall come from”? If you have seen this play tell me in the comments if that was the icing on the cake for you or if it was just me.
PPS In doing some research for this review I stumbled on the fact that Vincent Forcier was also Frenchie in a recent episode of Die-Nasty that I saw at the Varscona. He was a favorite character of mine there as well.
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