My overall impression
Dead Dog’s Bone explores the difficulty of accepting the past while learning from it, and taking experiences from the past to create a better, happier future. The theme of channeling unhappy experiences into a better future carries through from the beginning of the play to its end at the inevitable end of Dog.
The acting is first rate, beginning with Julia Finch as the Virgin Mary who narrates the play and ties its scenes together, and continuing through Luke Medina in a difficult role as THE Dog, the character who brings the play to its climax and resolution. In between, Conor Murphy, Hailey McAfee, Sean Draper and Gigi Greene play characters with close relationships, past and present, who need to adjust their lives and hangups to conditions of the present.
The staging here is incredibly creative. The director, Rosie Glen-Lambert, has created a motorcycle ride, a game of skipping sticks across a lake, animals performing in a dream sequence— all on a blank stage in one hour’s time.
I understand that the play was cut back from its original one hour forty-five minutes to one hour to accommodate its entry into the Fringe Festival. I’ll look forward to seeing it in its original version.
Lenore and Bill Lambert, Tarzana
