“It’s a solo show that fits in a suitcase,” says Stephen Smith about Threedumb Theatre’s production of Steven Berkoff’s two short monologues, Dog and Actor, which will tour next year. It means he can travel light and, consistent with his performances, carry no excess baggage.
Berkoff premiered Actor at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 1984 and Dog at the Warehouse Theatre, Croydon, in 1993, when it had the title Pitbull. He wrote them for himself to demonstrate intensely physical acting often combined with comedic delivery, not unlike his famous East. Smith found them ideally suited to his ability to play what Aleks Sierz describes as Berkoff's ‘in-yer-face’ style of theatre. In the two plays he saw the opportunity to create a double-bill that would be a vehicle for his craft and also slip into a one-hour slot, making it ideal for Fringe Festivals and taking on tour; a theory he is now putting to the test.
All actors have dreams and parts they long to play. For the one in Actor it’s Hamlet, but the role is not coming his way. He physicalises the quest as a treadmill, rather like life, accompanied by a stream of increasingly depressing phonecalls, familiar to anyone who has spent time applying for jobs, facing rejection and having to deal with everyone who knows how desperate you are to secure work. As such, it’s easy to identify with the timeless appeal of the material. Dog is rooted in Berkoff’s native working class London in the 1980s, but it’s themes of loneliness and isolation transcend the period. Dog follows an English yob, a racist and a football hooligan, whose mindless thuggery and violence resonates as much today as it did then. His affections are reserved for his pitbull terrier, Roy, who gets him into life-changing messes.
Smith gave his first performance of the two plays in October, 2018, at the Pump House Theatre, Watford, as part of the town’s annual weekend Fringe Festival. This followed a highly successful event that opened another door. He wanted to gain exposure in a more central location and so booked the Tristan Bates Theatre. He was offered far more time than he could fill, so contacted friends from Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA), where he had trained, to see if any of them had a production they wanted to put on. The result was Six Plays One Day; a hugely successful theatrical marathon which I saw along with Skot Wilson who reviewed it. After seeing Dog/Actor Wilson turned to me and said, “It has to be five stars”. I agreed wholeheartedly. His show was not only another sell-out; it now had a review that confirmed his ability to give ‘current and inalienably satisfying performances’ that are ‘riveting and stylish’.
Mark Featherstone-Witty, Founding Principal and CEO of LIPA was in attendance all day to encourage and support his former students in this highly creative venture. So impressed was he by the organisation and success that with typical generosity he agreed to sponsor Six Plays One Day as an annual event. In 2020 it will take place on February 8th, again at the Tristan Bates Theatre. Also in the audience that day, unbeknown to Smith, was an overseas visitor who subsequently made the totally unexpected offer of a commissioned run at the Junction Theatre in Dubai. Dog/Actor was soon on its way to the Gulf, playing largely to local audiences and some expats. On return, two performances at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre, London, built on that success and in October this year the production came full circle, returning to the Watford Fringe, this time playing a sold-out evening at the Palace Theatre.
Threedumb Theatre, the company Smith formed in 2015 with fellow alumni Matthew Bromwich and Duncan Riches, is now embarking on the next phase in the story of Dog/Actor. Having previously toured to their home towns with Not About Heroes, they want to take this production to a wider audience in June and July next year on what will be their biggest tour yet. Locations already include Liverpool, Bath, Huddersfield, Birmingham, Cambridge and Manchester with more to be announced. As anyone in the business knows this can be expensive. To help out, the company has launched a crowdfunding campaign where they’ve clearly set out plans to keep their costs to a minimum and presented a range of inviting offers linked to donations.
Everyone knows that ‘a dog is for life’, but actors also have to survive in order to take live theatre to people around the country. This is a blatant appeal to help get this particular tour underway. Please follow the links below to find out more about Threedumb Theatre, to read the review and most importantly to help finance it through the Kickstarter campaign. All contributions acknowledged and gratefully received and there are some excellent thank you perks available too. Tell your friends and spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. If you or your children are studying Drama or Theatre Studies for GCSE or A Level, Berkoff is almost certainly on the syllabus and this is a great opportunity to see his work on stage. If you’re lucky enough to be living within reach of a performance, don’t miss it: it’s a gem.
Further info
http://www.threedumbtheatre.com
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/3dumbtheatre/dog-actor-2020-tour
