Fifteen Dogs is based on the 2015 Giller Prize winning book of the same name by André Alexis. Adapted and directed by Marie Farsi, the play made its Ottawa debut in September in the NAC’s Azrieli Studio.
As both a book and a play, Fifteen Dogs is not your average shaggy dog story. The story opens with the Greek gods Hermes and Apollo drinking in a local tavern as they proceed to make a high stakes bet about what would happen if animals acquired human intelligence and speech. How would they react? Would it make them happy? After the bet is finalized, the gods stroll into a closed veterinary clinic and transform the lives of a group of dogs.
Fifteen Dogs. Photo NAC.
I read and enjoyed the book before seeing the play and wondered how it could work on stage. How could six actors play fifteen dogs, the humans they interact with, and a handful of Greek gods? Would the serious philosophical discussions from the book get lost in the transition to the stage?
I am happy to report that the adaptation works wonderfully. I enjoyed the play even more than the book.
Near the beginning of the play, a large tray of fifteen small plastic dogs is brought out and placed centre stage. Each one represents a dog from the show. As various dogs in the play “go over the rainbow bridge” their statue is tipped over and carried off stage. This helps the audience follow who’s gone and who still remains.
Tyrone Savage, Bren Eastcott, Jakob Ehman, David Storch. Photo NAC.
The dog ‘costumes’ that the actors wear also help us keep track of who’s who. They are uniformly simple and well chosen. A thick cowl worn around an actor’s neck represents a lot of neck wrinkles on Atticus the mastiff. A big toque pulled down over an actor’s eyes suggests a Great Dane with a lot of hair over her eyes.
The six actors were realistically doggy in their behaviour. They circle as they lie down. They sniff butts enthusiastically. They howl, they growl, they yip appropriately.The whole cast is great but the two ‘alpha dogs’ were stand outs for me. David Storch plays Majnoun, a large black poodle. Majnoun develops an intense intellectual and emotional relationship with his human mistress Nira. Tyrone Savage inhabits the jowly mastiff Atticus. His every movement tells you that he is the big dog and that he’s in charge.
Tyrone Savage. Photo NAC.
This production has finished its run now but I predict it will come around again. The last few shows in the Azrieli Studio were sellouts and it’s done very well in Toronto and Montreal.
