The old adage goes
that you should never work with animals, children, or firearms. But in Belvoir’s latest production – a double bill
of one-act romantic comedies – the animals take to the stage with gusto, and
the result is a charming, effervescent, and hilarious take on pet-ownership (or
co-ownership, as the case may be). The Dog / The Cat are
two new plays by Brendan Cowell and Lally Katz respectively. Staged in
Belvoir’s Downstairs theatre, there is a humble honesty in these two short
pieces – both no more than forty-five minutes – and it is quite possibly one of
the most entertaining and genuinely funny evenings I’ve had at Belvoir in
recent months.
Inspired by
Cowell’s experiences co-owning a Jack Russell terrier with Ralph Myers (who
also directs and designs this production), The
Dog is the kind of story Richard Curtis might explore in his delightfully
saccharine films – two friends co-own a dog, meet people in parks, and fall in
love – sometimes with the same person. While there is perhaps an element of
Cowell’s autobiography in The Dog, it
is an occasionally self-deprecating, light-hearted look at the lengths we go to
in the name of love and/or bravery, and the potholes and pratfalls which mark
our journey along the way. While still about three people and their pets, there
are discussions about marriage, divorce, making Big Decisions, dating, and the
market for apps such as Tinder (or ‘uDoing?’, as one character envisions it.). Although
the ending might seem a bit disconnected from the rest of the play, there’s a
shared humanity in Cowell’s writing, in the performances and direction, which
you cannot deny, and it makes for an engaging first half.
The Cat, written – appropriately – by Lally
Katz, is a play about a broken-up couple and their cat, and all the myriad unforeseen
consequences and minefields it opens up. While just as recognisably based in
the real-world as Cowell’s Dog, The Cat features Lally Katz’s own
(now-trademark) brand of theatrical whimsy, and is perhaps the more
theatrically-minded of the two. Like The
Dog, much of the play’s action comes from conversations – between the exes
and their new partners, between the exes and the cat – and it covers similar
territory, except with a more wide-ranging diversity. And while the ending may
come across as trite – the old ‘did we dream it?’ trope – the way in which Katz
salvages the moment and closes the play is beautifully bittersweet, and makes
sure we leave go out into the night with a stupid big grin on our faces.
Ralph Myers
directs with an assured cheekiness, letting situations play out in all their
chaotic glory, but careful not to let them go too far. Some moments – like the
cat’s first appearance – are genuinely funny, and it is a pleasure to see the
real-world intrude for a moment as the actors may or may not be able to refrain
from sharing a chuckle with the audience. The two plays are also musical to a
degree, with The Cat being the one more closely aligned to the genre; the final
scene of The Cat is a particular standout, a memorable coupling of Katz’s
wordplay (and delicious punning that would make T.S. Eliot turn in his grave),
and Stefan
Gregory’s ever-reliable composition.
The cast are all
tremendous here, with none of the actors having more or less stage-time across
both parts. In The Dog, Xavier
Samuel is a particularly vulnerable Ben, initially caustic and stand-offish,
but as he meets Miracle (Andrea
Demetriades), he warms, their two (unseen) dogs being the ice-breakers the
other needed to start a conversation. Benedict Hardie as Ben’s
friend-and-housemate Marcus is eager, a trait he may share with the dog he
co-owns with Ben, but there’s also something lonely to his character too, and
the final moments are well-handled and underplayed. In The Cat, Demetriades and Hardie play recently-separated exes (Alex
and Albert, respectively), as well as the others’ new partner (Sophie, and
Jeff); the only constant is Samuels’ ingenious turn as the Cat, dressed in a
black body-suit, hood, ears and tail, in a performance that sets the benchmark
for all stage-cats hence.
There’s nothing
groundbreaking in this production but there doesn’t need to be. What it is, is
a double-bill of romantic comedies written by two theatrical dreamers who have
each created a short and hilarious window of what it’s like to share a pet with
someone in the twenty-first century. Especially if the pet is a smart-talking, irritable,
meddling cat. And The Dog / The Cat
more than certainly delivers on this front.
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