[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Pageant Productions GO PLAY!, written and directed by Barra Grant (Off-Broadway’s Miss America’s Ugly Daughter and A Mother, a Daughter and a Gun), running through November 2 at The Odyssey Theatre
GO PLAY! is a magical story about three fairly ordinary New York people and their quite extraordinary dogs. The people, strangers at first, are brought together by a stubborn and slightly odd midwesterner, Susan Huckle’s Rose. Moved to New York by her awful husband and seeking any kind of connection, she takes her unruly rescue mutt to the local dog park and meets Lisa Joffrey’s Arlene and her petite and manicured Yorkie. Arlene is appalled by her attention at first. She is a New Yorker born and bred after all. And when Tyrell, played to perfection by Ralph Cole, Jr, sashays into the mix with his prize poodle at his heels, the scene is set.
The three dogs are a wonder. Janine Venable plays the sweet Yorkie, Peter Pasco the mutt, and the sublime Chris Schellenger is the pampered poodle. All three of these very fine actors, with minimal costumes and makeup, somehow become these dogs. They prance and patter, scrum and scurry, wrestle and fall in love. But it’s their incandescent repartee that wins us all over. Concerned with their owners, full of opinions and philosophies and absolute truths, they are the absolute heart of this funny, clever and quietly profound play.
The humans are great too! But as usual, and in every other conceivable situation, the animals steal all hearts.
While Rose persists at her friendship with Arlene, Arlene, once prickly, opens up and they become very close. Tyrell also softens to Rose, and the three of them form an unlikely friendship. A trio of lonely hearts with their trio of fluff balls.
But all is not as tranquil as we would like. There is illness and the impending development threatening to replace their beloved park. All reasons for this group to be torn apart forever! Will they survive? Will we?
It’s all in the story and in these truly wonderful characters and their dogs. What a brilliant idea to woo us with this play. How could anyone resist humans lucky enough to play dogs on a stage? Everyone is fantastic, the dogs, the humans, even the finely tuned set!
GO PLAY! is simply put, a heartwarming, beautifully written and phenomenally acted play. It is hopeful and uplifting, dryly funny and very real.
We love these delightful dogs and their humans, we care what will happen to them and we all want to live in their world of love and friendship and joyful connections. I absolutely adored GO PLAY! I needed it. To be lost in a play with heart and meaning. To be entertained and also quietly inspired. Theatre is a marvel at making us think deeply about everyday things.
GO PLAY! reminded me that it is connecting with each other and making a difference in one another’s lives for the better that should always be at the centre of our lives. Sometimes we forget to really see the world and the magic that is in it. In a dog. In a person. In a little piece of green grass in the middle of a city.
Come and find your joy with GO PLAY! at The Odyssey Theatre.
Where:
The Odyssey Theatre
2055 S Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
When:
September 13 – November 2
Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets:
The Cast
The cast of GO PLAY! includes Ralph Cole, Jr. (Pasadena Playhouse’s Sisterella, Latino Theatre Company’s Dementia) as Tyrell, Janine Venable (The Open Fist Theater Company’s Ghosts, Edinburgh Festival’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) as Yorkie, Scott Golden (Big Bear Theatre Project’s Little Shop of Horrors, Sacred Fools Theatre Company’s Mr. Burns; a post-electric play) as Multi-role man, Chris Schellenger (HBO’s Hacks, The Canyons) as Poodle, Susan Huckle (International City Theatre’s The Outsider, MET Theatre’s Young Frankenstein) as Rose, Lisa Joffrey (I Love Lucy Live, The Kathy & Mo Show) as Arlene, and Peter Pasco (Urbanite Theatre’s That must be the entrance to heaven, Road Theatre’s The play you want) as Mutt.
The Team
Set and sound design by Jerry Buszek, costume design by Lisa Lupo, lighting design by Bosco Flanagan, and casting by Michael Donovan.