Four Dogs and a Bone

How far would you go to become a star? Q44 Theatre’s Four Dogs and a Bone swiftly navigates the moral quagmire of show business and the dog-eat-dog Hollywood scene. It’s a world that pits actor against actor, director against writer, with one puppet master central to the backstabbing and duplicity, the conniving producer who controls the strings.

The tension in the air is immediate. The four characters move around the stage with no dialogue. In the opening scenes, we begin to learn each character’s stake in the film, which is touted as Disney’s next big thing. First there’s Brenda (Xanthe Gunner) – a starlet who is more personality than actress – and her tenuous links to show business. She wants to cut Collette (Tania Knight) from the film ensuring her path to stardom is that much clearer. Collette, a fading star clinging onto ‘ingenue’ roles, wants her character written as a heroine. Bradley (Kostas Illias), the producer who needs to bring the budget out of the red, and lastly, Victor (William Atkinson), the naive writer who wants to tell his childhood story. 

Originally written by John Patrick Shanley, this iteration of the play is as satirical and amusing as ever. The long scenes featuring just two characters peel back the layers of each character’s backstory. Brenda literally chants for stardom, but is she who she says she is? Bradley doesn’t want to jeopardise his third marriage, but will he do what it takes to make the movie he wants? Victor’s mother just died, but does that make him oblivious to everyone’s ulterior motives? And do we ever know what Collette is thinking through her mesmerising wordplay? 

Central to Four Dogs and a Bone are themes of corruption, bad behaviour and sexism. The show lifts the lid on the dark side of Hollywood and runs with it in a very entertaining fashion. The one criticism I felt was that the show ended abruptly and a part of me wanted to see more of the story unfold.