Monday, March 12, 2007
Scene & Herd Go, Dog. Go! What up, dog?
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Mon, Mar 12, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Sunday I took my daughter to see the Alliance Children's Theatre's Go, Dog. Go! It may be a speedy, splashy staging of P.D. Eastman's famous children's book, but I suspect that the production contains deeper implications, particularly on the local level. The observation "The yellow dog is down" seems to strongly echo the current political prospects of Georgia's Democrats. And the dehumanization and materialistic futility of automotive commuting is neatly captured by the spectacle of dogs driving in cars, accompanied by the questions, "Why are they going fast in those cars? What are they going to do? Where are those dogs going?" Where, indeed? Maybe we're all just dogs driving in cars.
There's no plot, except for the recurring question as to whether Hattie the poodle (Courtney Patterson) will ever wear a hat that McDog (Chris Ensweiler) will actually like. Viewed on a strictly superficial level, Go, Dog. Go! proves highly satisfying, since it's got such great surfaces. The props are appropriately cartoonish and the floor of the set even evokes a Monopoly board. Dressed in costume designer Sydney Roberts' primary-colored overalls, the show's six dogs work, play and demonstrate opposites such as up vs. down. Directed by Rosemary Newcott, the show features choreographed movements and energetic, silent movie-style physical comedy, and some sections, like the rhythmic, percussion-heavy "Work, dogs, work!" sequence, resembles Stomp for kids. And given its imagery of the mixed race cast, or "white dogs and black dogs," cheerfully cooperating, Go, Dog. Go! presents a pleasing display of racial togetherness — that doesn't require serious thematic analysis.
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
5 things today: Jewish Films, Estelle
The AJFF continues, soul tunes at Center Stage, and more
-
5 things today: Kinky Friedman, Jim Norton 3
A Texas songwriter, a New Jersey comic, and a conductor walk into Atlanta...
-
Most popular damn posts o' the week
It's a rainy circus of elephants and occupiers out there
- More »
Author Archives
-
Oscar Countdown: Cinematography & Editing
Can the obscure French film artists of 'The Artist' beat Martin Scorsese's buddies?
-
Cinefest to blow minds with 'Scanners'
'Scanners' is more than just a head shot.
- More »
Comments (0)