‘Dog Act’
Imagine a post-apocalyptic world in which weather and language have gone haywire. There are a few straggling survivors, roughly recognizable as human.
One is vaudevillian (Ro)zetta Stone (Liv Kellgren), who seems to have lost most uses of the verb “to be,” and has this comment about the weather: “This do suck like a succubus suck.”
Zetta’s companion is Dog (Jason Connors), who has taken a voluntary species demotion for a transgression costly to his former tribe. Dog and Zetta let us know in song that they are “Walking to China” to do a show for the king, but they hope to pick up a few more acts along the way. One taciturn talking dog just won’t cut it.
Along comes Vera Similitude (Sylvia M’Lafi Thompson), a soothsayer who tells the present. Vera always tells the truth (there’s a mutation if ever there was one), though she readily admits that it’s not always the whole truth. As explanation, she offers this: “When only truth may be told, obfuscation of style is strongly advised.”
Vera’s traveling partner is Jo-Jo the Bald Face Liar (Melissa Fernandes, ably stepping in for Jo Anne Glover for this performance), whose talent seems to be one-breath storytelling. Jo-Jo tells a few, among them one about a fox and a witch strangely reminiscent of The Taming of the Shrew.
Speaking of the Bard, the bad guys of the piece are Scavengers Coke (Justin Lang) and Bud (Rob Kirk), dressed in sort of early kink fatigues with pockets everywhere. They speak what might be called f-word Shakespearean: Coke’s opening line is “Do not thou fuck with me.” But profanely literary though they be, these are marauders who steal and kill, so the survivors try to stay out of their way.
MOXIE Theatre celebrates its 5th season and its new home at the Rolando Theatre with this blast from the past: Dog Act was its first production in 2005. This incarnation plays through November 22. Delicia Turner Sonnenberg directs.
Sonnenberg has a great cast for this musical “extrav-no-ganza.” Kellgren’s harried “the-show-must-go-on-but-where-are-my-acts” Zetta is a hoot. Connors proves this dog can do more than talk – he plays a mean guitar and wrote some of the songs as well.
Thompson adds faux intellectual banter to the silly proceedings; Fernandes is hilarious and reminds me of a kid forced to perform for Aunt Mabel.
Lang and Kirk are the most amusing villains you’ve seen in a while, and they play off each other to great advantage.
The plot of Dog Act is goofy, the characters outrageous, the costumes hilarious, the songs clever, the script loaded with references to everything from Peter Pan to old classic TV shows. The whole is a raucous, rollicking good time, and leaves you with this cheery thought: “However bad it be, it gonna keep gettin’ worse.”
As Coke might say, “Do not thou f***ing miss it.”
Liv Kellgren and Jason Connors in 'Dog Act'
Dog Act plays through November 22, 2009 at Rolando Theatre (the former Cygnet Theatre site). Shows Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinee Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets call (858) 598-7620 or visit www.moxietheatre.com.
