Addendum: The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick Theatre) 7 February 2010

When The Little Dog Laughed performances were announced with Jamie Lloyd directing I opted to buy a ticket independently instead of attending the what I assumed to be scheduled, Whatsonstage.com outing. These outings usually cost less, include more and have an exclusive post performance discussion. The reason I didn't wait was I figured, based on previous experiences, that Jamie Lloyd would not be attending. Imagine my surprise when I saw the partial transcription of the WOS Outing Post Performace discussion that Mr Lloyd was there after all. Oh well. That aside, I was still able to read about his experience with the play and get some insight into its origins.

In my original The Little Dog Laughed blog I wrote that I felt the impetus for writing the play came from an anger at Hollywood. At least that's how it felt to me. What I have now learned is the story came from writer Douglas Carter Beane's original idea to write about the experiences of a New York rent boy. The fleshing out of that story, so to speak, moved on to include a closeted politician (which evolved into the agent played by Tamsin Greig) and eventually became the current story with the closeted Hollywood star.

I don't know if this changes anything for me. It's always interesting to hear directors and actors talk about the process of developing performances and too often I find myself sliding along with them into the land of justification when I do. Hearing the 'whys' always makes sense in terms of process but outcome is another matter entirely. I tend to second guess myself, thinking I must have missed something or just didn't 'get it' - whatever the 'it' is.

After all is said and done I still get the issues presented in The Little Dog Laughed and I think it's an interesting subject to explore. The origins are simply an interesting side note that I wanted to clarify but I still don't feel it gives the audience enough to care about.

(click the title to go the Whatsonstage The Little Dog Laughed page)