It's difficult for any small repertory theatre to survive--especially one stuck in the basement of a factory, rehearsing an original play written by one of the company members. Playwright Diane Grant is a member of Write Act Rep, which itself performs in a Hollywood church, proving that art occasionally imitates life. Grant has come up with a clever concept for her backstage comedy, the farcical aspects of creating the play-within-a-play--also called A Dog's Life--juxtaposed with the fictional ensemble's struggle to pay the rent.
Elizabeth Hillman gives a delightful performance as the artistic director's wife, the kind of role once created for Thelma Ritter, and Eric Travis is hilarious as a terminally Method actor who can't stop playing a canine after rehearsals end. Still, as the frustrated artistic director, John Jeffrey Soroka seems to be doing another play entirely; he might as well be acting in an Arthur Miller drama. Trader Selkirk doesn't fare well, either, perhaps taking his character's description as "stiff as a board" too much to heart, and the rest of the cast has little to contribute except reactions as the action unfolds.
Director John Lant has mined some funny moments, but generally the play's a bit of a mess. Although a previously performed 2002 ATHE finalist, Grant rewrote it specifically for the Write Act company. One might suspect this is why one character sits upstage at a drum set throughout the play but never drums or speaks. Except for ringing a bell in one scene and wearing a jester's hat in another, his only purpose seems to be shaking a tambourine when someone says something silly. It might also explain the ethnically stereotypical operatic landlord perpetually poised outside the door ready to make an entrance at any moment, though without apparent reason. Just a guess: In retooling her play especially for Write Act, did Grant write the sense out of it? It sure gets a lot of company members onstage at one time, albeit without much reason to be there.