By Sam Sage, outgoing Editor-in-Chief
Alfred University’s latest theatre production was The Little Dog Laughed, written by Douglas Carter Beane, which was playing at CD Smith III Theatre from Thursday, April 4th to Saturday, April 6th. This production was directed by Alfred University assistant professor Kolton Bradley.
The cast was small, compared to some other, notable productions, though that did not distract from the narrative, acting skill, and beautiful set design. Shirite Westreich played Diane, a no-holds-barred, ambitious talent agent. Acting as one of our main narrators throughout the play, everything we experience is truly through her notes. We don’t see anymore than she lets us, and she doesn’t let anything come out that isn’t meant to. Her client, Mitchell Greene (Milton Esliker), is a closeted gay actor that is currently residing in New York for an awards show. It’s through his time in a hotel in the city that we meet male sex-worker Alex (Evan Davis) and Alex’s “girlfriend,” party girl Ellen (Izzy Rabiner). The way this play ends likely isn’t what you’d expect, unless you managed to catch the showings!
Tristan St. James, who did the set design for the fall semester’s play, Marisol, continues to dazzle audience members with unique construction and lighting — a thank you to, then, extend to the spotlight operators, Tristan Duhan and Shaun Winfield, as well as the countless stagehands, scene shop workers, and faculty that helped create a cohesive set.
Without delving too much into the narrative, as this is a play that relies on plot twists and chaos, Westreich, Esliker, Davis, and Rabiner did wonders at creating hilarious, complicated, but more importantly, likable characters. Between two acts, which went by shockingly quick, the cast took what could have easily been caricatures and allowed the audience into this wild, fanfiction-y storyline without fear.