The coathangers are rattling. Is a sexy Hollywood secret about to be revealed?
Movie actor Mitchell Green is hitting the big time – but can he keep his man-loving double life secret? Luckily, his uber-agent Diane – a piranha in Blahniks – is trying her damnedest to shield him from scandal.
Douglas Carter Beane's voyeuristic new comedy The Little Dog Laughed was the toast of New York when it premièred there last year, so Kiwi theatre producers wasted no time bringing it to our shores. It begins in Auckland's Silo (now located in The Edge's Herald Theatre) this week, and Wellington's Downstage Theatre next month.
The Silo Theatre's founder Shane Bosher is directing the production in Auckland. "I read a lot of plays, but when I picked up this script, I laughed out loud so much," he tells GayNZ.com. "That doesn't often happen. I usually think outside of it, thinking 'oh the audience will find that amusing' or 'they'll like that part'. But the voice in this play is very sharp and so lacerating. It's a similar sort of wit as Will & Grace or Seinfeld."
Bosher says he was drawn to the play's salacious theme of Hollywood double lives, and realises celebrity culture is a real guilty pleasure – as much as we don't like to admit it. "When we pick up the Sunday paper, About Town is the first thing that we read. We look at these people and wonder what their lives are like – and wonder what their true lives are like. This play explores that – the line between true self and the public persona."
Are there still many closeted actors in Hollywood? "I think there are probably truckloads," says Bosher. "It's because Hollywood and film-making in general is about escapism. And there's some fear around how much truth about people that the audience can actually cope with.
"There is a prejudice that gay actors aren't able to convince audiences that they are able to play straight people. It's a bit of an irony – I look at my career as an actor and I've played serial killers, accountants, geeks, and a whole lot of things that weren't tied up with sexuality. Audiences seemed fine with what I was doing. But then again, I'm not a public persona as an actor. Would someone like George Clooney be able to play a geek, or an accountant, or a serial killer, and have the audience able to cope with that?"
Bosher says he's already had some questions about why we didn't cast gay actors for this production. "I've cast two straight actors playing key roles – which is hilarious when you consider the subject matter! But at the end of the day I have to cast the two best people for the role, regardless of their sexuality.
"It's been interesting. There's been a lot of questioning in the rehearsal room about ways of negotiating relationships and what the differences are between the two worlds. So we've all been challenged in some respects, as we've worked to try to find a common ground."
Bosher knows one scene in the play is likely to "press some buttons" in the audience. "Yes, there is nudity," he smiles. "When you read a script you think about what would be challenging for the actors. And it might be, but in this context it needs to be there. It exists so the two characters can be caught in what is undeniably a gay moment – so the characters can't spin it into anything other than what it is.
"It's not gratuitous and it is ridiculously funny. It's also quite good fun for the audience, given that we don't often have sex scenes played out on stage where we can see everything..."
The Little Dog Laughed begins in Auckland this Thursday 23 October, starring Alison Bruce, Sophie Henderson, Charlie McDermott and Paolo Rotondo at the Herald Theatre. Wellingtonians can catch it at the Downstage Theatre from Friday 7 November, starring Kip Chapman, Sophie Hambleton, Richard Knowles and Renée Sheridan. Bookings and more information are on the links below.
