Review: 'No More Dead Dogs' by Griffin Theatre; 'Dot and Ziggy' by Chicago Children's Theatre
"No More Dead Dogs" ★★½ Through June 19 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.; $22-$30 at 773-975-8150 or theaterwit.org
If a kid in school picks up a book — “Old Yeller,” say, or “Where the Red Fern Grows” — and sees a dog smiling away on the front cover, it's a pretty good bet that, by the final chapter, the pooch in question will be munching Milk-Bones in the sky. The canine life expectancy in young adult literature is roughly comparable to that of a lead held by the Bulls in a playoff game.
In Gordon Korman's book “No More Dead Dogs,” now adapted for the stage by William Massolia of the Griffin Theatre Company, a high school kid named Wallace (the dry Ryan Lempka) decides that he has had enough of dogs being killed off in service of prepubescent tears. And thus he sets out to express this truth in a report written for his teacher, Mr. Fogelman (Jeremy Fisher, who could dial it back a tad). Unfortunately for Wallace, the book “Old Shep, My Pal” happens to be one of his teacher's favorites — and to the chagrin of his pals, Wallace finds himself in detention and off the football team, which needs him. A lesson ensues in how the truth, while desirable in most circumstances, sometimes requires shading.
If you have a kid between about 8 and 13, you'll likely have fun together at director Dorothy Milne's lively production (although Massolia's adaptation badly needs a clip and a trim; if this were “Old Yeller,” we'd be good and ready for the critter to croak). Unlike a lot of shows aimed at kids, this one teaches what you might call relative thinking — its message is that it's never a bad idea to challenge a cultural work that's being pushed on you, or how your emotions are being manipulated. That's the kind of armor that one does not easily acquire from Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel, and it gets more useful every day.
There's also a wicked, although wholly kid-friendly, note of satire at the core of the piece, which could lead you into good conversations on the way home. The story is narrated by geeky Rachel (played without condescension by Ellie Reed) through letters sent from a teenager to Julia Roberts, who here functions as a kind of mother confessor, a role that takes some swallowing, but there you go.
Overall, Griffin's new show feels very much like a work in progress. It could use more cohesion and pace (along with that shorter running time). It's fun to have a live band, but they don't really feel part of the whole here. And this is one of those dramatic adaptations in search of a unifying theatrical metaphor that could help corral all of the multiple settings.
But I doubt your kids will worry much about that stuff. Milne and Massolia treat them like critical thinkers. And they'll be chuckling away at all the dead dogs.
"Dot and Ziggy" ★★ Through June 26 at the Victory Gardens Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.; $16-$18 at 773-871-3000 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org
If your charges are more worried about filling diapers than reading compound sentences, then “Dot and Ziggy,” the new 45-minute production for babies and toddlers created by Linda Hartzell and Mark Perry of the Seattle Children's Theatre and performed by Roni Geva and Don Darryl Rivera, might be more your speed.
Presented by Chicago Children's Theatre in an upstairs room at the Victory Gardens Biograph, the titular ladybug and skunk explore their various similarities and differences as the audience sits on the floor (baby theater is a great leveler). The environment is, of course, tolerant of a variety of responses from the paying customers, which takes care of one of a parent's biggest fears. And, understanding that complicated narratives are not a good fit for those who measure their time on this planet in months, the show interacts in numerous ways: you get tickled, hugged, you get to put things in and out of containers (long something I've enjoyed), you can shout back (not so much), and there is even a kind of indoor kite to stimulate the senses. That's ideal since trying to fly a kite this spring with kids has mostly resulted in the soggiest of malaises.
I wish the show went a lot further in really revving up the half-pint rockers — it's a tad cute and restrained. Hey, this is Chicago, not Seattle. But baby, this is a show for you.
Comments