Too Legit to Quip

Flashpoint Theatre Co.'s The Little Dog Laughed

by Mark Cofta

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Published: May 13, 2009

[ theater review ]

Bill Devers

Saying that a production doesn't work is easy; explaining why is much more challenging.

Case in point: Flashpoint Theatre Co.'s fifth season closer, The Little Dog Laughed, in which playwright and screenwriter Douglas Carter Beane skewers both haughty New York theater artists and greedy Hollywood hacks. A 2007 Tony Award nominee, Beane's play arrives with a great reputation (never mind that its author also wrote the book for the Broadway musical Xanadu).

Matt Lorenz plays rising star Mitchell, afflicted with "a slight recurring case of homosexuality" that agent Diane (Karen Getz) works to hide. Mitchell's rent-a-boy from "Manhattan Schoolboys," Alex (Sean Thompson), makes him yearn for more than a quickie. Meanwhile, Diane closes a deal with a famous playwright (cutely referred to as "He meaning Him") for Mitchell to play the film adaptation's gay lead — an award-worthy act of courage for a straight actor, Diane reasons, while an out actor playing gay reduces it to an arty, money-losing niche film. Alex's sometimes-girlfriend, Ellen (Aime Kelly), living on a famous author's credit card, adds complications.

Much quipping ensues, especially from Diane, Beane's catty narrator. ("We have something like a relationship," says Diane, on her role as Mitchell's public hetero companion, "only it's enjoyable.") But Beane's cleverness implies an edge that director Meghann Williams' production doesn't achieve — the archness in Beane's script falls flat due to a blunting earnestness.

In other words, Flashpoint does what works for 99 percent of plays: They urge us to care about these characters. This script, though, says we shouldn't. This isn't a drama about individuals, but a comedy about forces: greed bolstered by cynicism, love twisted by convenience, perception trumping reality at every turn. Scenic designer W.D. Forte seems to understand, but his five circular islands morph in the playing from a wry vision of selfishness to an unconvincing commentary on loneliness.

This subtle difference builds exponentially, so that everything clashing with the effort at earnestness — such as sound designer Christopher Colucci's goofy mix of "Hurray for Hollywood" with barking dogs — feels desperate. His attempt at humor works for the play Beane wrote, but not for the one Flashpoint is presenting.

The Little Dog Laughed | Through May 30, $18, Flashpoint Theatre Co. at Second Stage at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-665-9720, flashpointtheatre.org

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