Ethan Switch - Thursday, March 10, 2005 - Print Version
Boscaiola on one plate, bolognese on the other, time on the side. All tastes disappear when the heat is on and forces itself a blister from the tongue inside a pizza restaurant on Enmore Road. Back over at Muncheros inside @Newtown, the waitresses have ears that pick up the slightest of comments from the register. One such as, "she's hot" from a distance normally safe and drowning in the ambience of the bar just over the shoulder.
Level 3 of @Newtown faces off against a sheer open edging along one of the walls up the stairs. The sharp and jagged corners, enough to slice open a forehead if not for flimsy red and white tape marking its presence. Passing the landing on Level 2, there's a strange sensation of climbing up onto the roof. Save for the fact that the play room is on the inside, it pretty much is. Trucks and motorbikes from the street are clearly audible with a dull dullness about their voice.
Seating for this night's feature, The Dog Logs, sports a few wet stains on a couple of the seats. The entire back row is reserved for rowdy latecomers and the stage looks to have taken up two-thirds of the entire floorspace area. Handing out a bag or two of jelly beans, the bloke at one of the computers is kind of leery in a docile fashion. Leaflets as programmes say plenty of nothing and hold no clues or give any indication as to which of the performing trio of actors are portraying the respective dogs. What, no photos?
Three men, Christopher Johnson, David Ritchie and Michael Cullen, with a guy on sounds called Murray Jackson, present these series of canine monologues that range from a hyperactive jack russell terrier to an all too cool and suave purebred afghan hound. Stepping right into the heads of the various pedigrees and breeds, delivery is near flawless and always captivating. Certain acts are on and off without lingering beyond a hint of closing in on being put down as others keep going on and on, trapping you in an ever enveloping crave for the fine details in the snapshot of their life as man's best friend and enemy of the cat.
Placards noting which dog is up on stage see heads sway in the way, blocking and making the seats rock a little in getting a better view. Props and set design is bare minimal, relying more on the one or two pieces of clothing to set the entire persona and situation.
As one of the shows in this whole 2005 Cracker Comedy Festival, it plays with a subdued, introspective and reflective humour that isn't shoved down the throat like a golden waffle. Despite the pun crazy press blurbs of "barking into your hearts" and "howling with laughter," The Dog Logs is an extremely tight, engaging and above all, entertaining show that ends on a massively hilarious high shot.
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