A Dog's Life pleases

by James Trainor

Riverside - There’s something about being a “dog person” that suggests general likability. Maybe it’s a tolerance for the unpredictable. Perhaps it’s a love of authenticity and simplicity—a dog’s life, after all, isn’t that complicated. Learning to love a dog can help you reduce stress. It develops a capacity for patience and compassion that can help in your relationships with children, romance partners, co-workers and friends. It’s also a great metaphor for inner growth.

A Dog’s Life is a light-hearted musical (by Sean Grennan and Leah Okimoto) that tells the story of Joel (Jim Van Valen), who adopts a dog to make up with his ex-girlfriend. He intends to give the lovable pooch, Jake (David Tull), to her as a gift, but she’s not returning his calls. So Joel, too busy and selfish to care for another creature, but too decent to take it back to the pound, has to learn to find the dog person within. It’s not an easy task.

This story is familiar and somewhat predictable, of course. We’ve seen it before. The engaging interactions of the people onstage, however, are what make this production worth seeing. The real joy of a Riverside production is that no matter what’s on the page, the artists commit themselves with the same honesty and skill. With a little bit of love and care from a talented cast like this one, even a mongrel can become “best in show.”

David Tull is charming and energetic as Jack. His doglike mannerisms read very well, yet he doesn’t turn into a cartoon at all. He’s very empathetic and often moving. Steven Perkins and Mary Bryant are fantastic as Big Dog and Little Dog. Their subplot imbues the story with comic relief, zany energy and endearing statements about friendship. Van Valen’s performance is very steady and subtle. He’s a very patient and specific actor, always in the moment. He makes Joel’s growth seem quite believable. Particularly telling is the fact that we grow to like him. At the beginning, he’s an impatient, easily frustrated person who thrives on predictability and control. By the end, he has a sense of humor. He’s not just sarcastic anymore—he’s genuinely funny. John Kaufmann’s direction is simple and effective. The story is clear and well-paced.

Some of the show’s musical numbers seem to veer away from simplicity and authenticity. “A Dog’s Life” seems to be a sanctuary for all the miscellaneous dog puns that Grennan couldn’t bear to send to the pound; it’s a great song-and-dance number, but has no bearing on the plot. “Swirling World” is a comment on neutering dogs that pushes the boundaries of good taste and, again, doesn’t move the plot. “Walkin’ Man,” the boisterous Act II opener, announces with great fanfare that Joel, in the intervening five years, has become acclimated to dog care.

Here we have some plot development, but something troubles me. Joel is set up as a brave and shameless outsider for walking his dog in inclement weather (apparently he’s the only dog owner in his neighborhood) and, yes, for picking up the poop. All well and good, but is this what heroism in the twenty-first century amounts too? Being man enough to clean up after your dog? Joel is, after all, merely obeying the law.

Perhaps I’m over-thinking it, though. Compassion and consistency are traits our culture seems to lack as of late. Joel’s transformation is a positive one, and a reassuringly optimistic one. It’s good to remember that becoming a happier person, like a surprising number of things in life, is intrinsically simple.

One wonders whether the scene design could have benefitted from this Zen-and-dog walking school of thought. The scenes are punctuated with captions reciting quotes from famous people, little tidbits of wisdom and funny sayings about dogs. Sometimes they’re appropriate to the themes of the play, sometimes they’re pretty far afield. Groucho Marx, for instance, once said: “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” Funny—except he wasn’t making a joke about dogs; he was making a joke about words. So many of the captions are like this that they seem extraneous as a whole.

The projections within the scenes function well as backdrops, but they’re unnecessary. They don’t really add much storytelling that wasn’t already covered quite well by the lighting design, the costumes, and the acting. Scott Olinger’s scenic design seems to work best when it’s simple and versatile; the projector complicates things in a vaguely unsatisfying way. It is nice to see the pictures of cast members and their dogs during curtain call, though.

A Dog’s Life opens Riverside’s 29th Season. It kicks off a variety of plays Artistic Director Jody Hovland calls “another eclectic mix of theatrical fare.” Will it be a mutt or a purebred? Can a playful romp like this co-exist with a moody drama like The Diary of Anne Frank or an in-your-face solo performance like Killadelphia: City of Numbers? It remains to be seen, but I’m sure the consistent level of quality and artistic commitment will keep Riverdogs coming back throughout the versatile 2009-2010 Season.

A Dog’s Life is playing at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City now through October 10th. Contact the box office at 319-338-7672 for more information, or go here.

James recently graduated from Cornell College with a Bachelor of Special Studies in English and Theater. He has also acted and directed for Stage Left Theater in Cedar Rapids.