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As often as we've expressed concern over the abundance of independent startups jockeying for space and attention in Rhode Island Theater's crowded landscape, it's undeniable that very few of them ever fall on their face in the process. It would be easy to write off yet another musical revival or withering Agatha Christie offering, but there are dozens of long-established companies that have access to their own venue already covering that territory. The age of instant Co. is upon us in full force and we blame (or give credit to) the Internet. Yes, Al Gore's favorite science fair project has been a boon to not only purveyors of filth and people who don't want to leave the house (and, yes...amateur critics, too - we'll admit it). Anyone with the wherewithal to put on a show can, at little personal effort, pick (or draft) a script, announce auditions (or not) on Facebook and Twitter, and then kick off a fundraising drive via Kickstarter or PayPal on their free website to get the financial backing. Voila - instant production company. Give it a cleverly obscure name, announce show dates, and you're done. And that's all before lunch. What used to take an army of talented people months (or years) to achieve, now happens overnight. Even ten years ago, there were only a small handful of companies available once RIC, Salve, URI and Brown made you take a diploma and leave. The old-boy networks kept the major players inaccessible to the non-Equity and the non-connected and, the ones that embraced the young and fresh-faced were only offering the aforementioned retreads of 'Gypsy' and 'You Can't Take it With You'. A few strongholds, the Perishables and NewGates among them, offered solace, but financial concerns made producing shows a constant battle between artistic concerns and keeping the lights on. Actors and would-be Directors fumed in bars about how they would run a Theater company if given the wherewithal. Friends graduating from school constantly plotted and dreamed about working together on visionary plays while they helped each other suit up backstage at another performance of 'Carousel'. But, it all seemed too difficult. How could they manage to market their offerings? How could they organize without physically being in the same place? These things were next to impossible without money and time and a slew of dedicated volunteers...until Facebook. Certainly, starting a new Theater Company seems so obvious now that it's a wonder they weren't cropping up ages ago. Rhode Island has always hosted more talent in a small space than there were companies to hold them. The outreach afforded by the Internet was available, in much the same way it is now, back in the mid Nineties. Social Networking has been the rocket fuel, certainly, but like all good ideas, starting a new Company was really just a matter of someone finally realizing that they could. It's worth tracing the evolution of these boutique repertories just to get a grip on the pace for a history of the RI Theater scene in general. However, this is, ostensibly, a review of Small Ax Theatre's 'The Little Dog Laughed', so we'll save that exercise for another day. The rambling intro here serves to set the scene and lead to the only real problem with being clever enough to turn a good concept and better intentions into a physical production. Actors? No problem. Casting a show correctly can be difficult, depending on your circle of friends and how networked you are, but finding sheer numbers of willing bodies is certainly achievable, especially with monetary incentive. Artistic Team? Harder. Once again, it depends on your circle of peers, and most folks go into these endeavors with a core team already in mind. For every fifty actors, there are only one or two competent technicians and designers are even more difficult to come by. A determined visionary will manage to fill in the gaps themselves, by hook or by crook, and enough last minute favors will usually manage to get a show lit or dressed or gets that elusive tornado sound effect created. The ultimate (literal) showstopper in these plans always will be the venue. There are simply not enough performance spaces available for an independent outfit. There are beautiful, glorious buildings abound, but most are overbooked with non-Theater outfits in order to keep the owners solvent and the few companies who've managed to squeeze in are hardly doing new work. The Odeum is set to return in East Greenwich, but it remains to be seen whether or not a SALT or a Wilbury or a BTC can afford the fees (or even the former resident, Academy Players, for that matter). Most likely, we'll see massive Youth Theater productions booked there whose large scale of paying parents and relatives will make them more attractive to the owners than 30 or so brooding Beckett fans. With 95 Empire and Artists' Exchange being two of the only options available that can be remotely afforded by a group not underwritten by a major state institution, we start to see homogeneity in even the most diverse series of groups and plays. Brilliant, daring performances abound, but on the same technically limited scales. The sense of event is elusive at best, replaced by a lingering feeling of making do and suspending the idea that an audience is entering somewhere other than a glorified rehearsal space. Occasionally, however, a group will seek the exotic and choose to break free of those three black walls. Amber Kelly's Theater of Thought tossed aside any expectation of space and chose to restrict itself to no less than the sky and the water (and they went beyond that, as well). But anyone who's attended Shakespeare in the Park can tell you, an outdoor performance can range from the sublime to the ridiculously uncomfortable and most aspiring outfits don't envision themselves as Seasonal. All of this leads up to the impression of seeing The Small Ax Theatre stage Douglas Carter Bean's witty and (sometimes) wicked 'The Little Dog Laughed' at the former Jerkys/Rocket/Babyhead on Richmond Street in Providence. It's now The Providence Social Club, but still pretty much the same venue with brighter lights and some framed prints slapped on the wall. In other words, it's a music club. Yes, there's a raised stage and a few lights, but essentially a big room with a platform and a bar. The last time we saw a Theater performance that had an active bar in the same room, it was Perishable's famed 'Hedwig' and that was part of the scenic design. After a few attempts at the usual spaces (including the Providence Black Rep space), TJ Curran's Small Ax (who had previously turned out a fine 'Othello' by the water at India Point Park), found a willing partner in Providence Social Club, who seemed willing to expand their program with more than the usual local band/DJ sets. Curran tells More Teeth that the intention was to stage 'Dog...' in a downtown Providence location to attract a younger, edgier crowd who would be more open to the themes of the show. After 95 Empire and Black Rep were either priced out of contention or eliminated, there was really nowhere else to go. Church basements seemed out of the question given the storyline of a closeted actor blurring the lines between his gay private life and his straight People magazine profile. The two nude men making out probably wouldn't have gotten by the Pastor, either. So, with an eager host and a low budget, the chance was taken to make this "hip" comedy play on Richmond Street. For every argument we've made here that playing space is an issue in Rhode Island, one could also argue that a decent production of a decent script should be able to pull in an audience regardless of location. Yes, as long as niceties such as production value and the expectation that an audience will actually sit still and not jabber through the performance are not high on your wish list. As interesting and as promising as this urban venue was, what was essentially a fantastic show was marred by the trappings of its location. As nice as it was to have a plush sofa and a draft beverage at hand, the lack of adequate stage lighting distracted from some exquisite performances, particularly those of Joanne Fayan, Heidi Beckmann and Kevin Broccoli who dealt with alternating shadow and glare. Dan Fisher, who did everything possible with his already proven talents here, was simply limited by resources. The staging here was as ambitious as possible given the complete lack of suitable exits and entrances. Once again, we're confronted with an all-or-nothing approach when dealing with an alternative space: either the audience accepts that actors will be on and off in full view, or there is an attempt at maintaining the illusion. Forced to deal with limitations, Small Ax followed their theatrical instincts and attempted to do a full staging. Even this would have been fine, given the power of the production: Fayan, as the lesbian power broker of a manager chewed the little bit of scenery there was and still managed to appear vulnerably human. Her many monologues were affecting and often hilarious. Beckmann, not often seen in local productions was a marvel; her long-suffering girlfriend (Ellen) to Broccoli's rent boy (Alex) was ebullient, crass and vulnerable. Broccoli, who confirms that 'Dog...' could really only play in Providence (as opposed to a space like Artists' Exchange in Cranston), dared a brief nude scene with Adam Vargulish (the conflicted Mitchell, whose private affair with Alex leads to the play's central conflict) and maintained an understated charm throughout. But whenever we allowed ourselves to drift into the story, the patrons of the club, who seemed confused about the nature of what was being presented, hooted and hollered and wandered up to the stage to take pictures. Of course, audience demeanor cannot be counted on anywhere (MoreTeeth's unfortunate run-in with an inebriated couple during Courthouse's 'Buddy Holly Story' last year still sticks out as particularly egregious), but the same trap applies to any unrestricted space. Theater of Thought's 'Executor', staged throughout Providence's College Hill neighborhood fell victim more than once to attendees of Waterfire inserting themselves into the action. Some will say that this is the beauty of live performance - anything can happen and the thrill is in watching how the actors deal with it. Others will counter by saying that they paid good money to see a fully realized production and the distractions are simply too much to bear. It's a matter of intent. We expect that, given the amount of talent displayed (and the clear direction of a script that could very easily make its characters look like money-grubbing assholes, given half a chance) that Curran and crew would much rather have had a far more controlled presentation. 'The Little Dog Laughed' explores the hypocrisy of the entertainment industry and of broader society in not wanting to see our leading men and women in films and television be anything other than straight and narrow, even while paying lip service to the idea of sexual egalitarianism. Character actors may be openly gay, but leading men and women must continue to neither ask nor tell. Mitchell, on the verge of stardom, is walking a fine line between exposing his true self, but his manager, Diane, believes they both have a good thing going by keeping their private lives on the downlow. A drunken call to an escort agency later, Alex and Mitchell meet and a faltering chemistry develops. Alex chooses to return the money he otherwise would have stolen (in a wise departure from the script, which has Alex keeping the cash, yet still allowing a relationship to develop) and his girl-friend-with-benefits is forced to watch him slowly drift out of range - until he impregnates her. Thus, the pivotal conflict in 'Dog...' and a setup for an ending that may have caused endless debate among a different audience not prone to hoot at the stage or yammer loudly at the bar. Could Small Ax have made a better venue choice? Perhaps. However, they should be credited with trying something different and trying to expand the ever-shrinking map of possibilities for the independents to get their work seen. For those who missed 'The Little Dog Laughed', it's a shame. This was a truly fine production featuring some talent not often seen on Rhode Island stages. If the location was the deciding factor, then expand your horizons. Sometimes the audience is just as entertaining as the show itself...
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