Dog Actor by Steven Berkoff ADC Corpus Playhouse
One intense hour, two short plays, one actor and a minimalist set - pure Berkoff! Performed and directed by Stephen Smith, this was one of my most memorable evenings at this intimate little theatre.
The play ‘Dog’ has two characters: the skinhead and his pit-bull called Roy, played (yes you guessed it) by Stephen. The skinhead stereotype: tight jeans, bovver boots, close cropped hair, braces (in this case red - the only colour in the play) was menacing from the first moments of the play.I immediately caught myself referencing Alex from Clockwork Orange, the delinquent psychopath, complete with braces and bovver boots. The play portrays a day in the life of a football hooligan, a hooligan who is ironically incapable of controlling his vicious dog who he calls ‘a tank with teeth.’ Dog as status symbol, as weapon, but we know this Roy could turn on his ‘master’ at any time. Despite the stereotypical portrayal, the quality of the acting, the energy and physicality also allowed us a small window of compassion for this sad representation of warped masculinity, trapped in a kind of power cycle between himself and the dog.
This play seemed to me to be less a comment on the skinhead and football hooligan era, and more as a metaphor for toxic masculinity which is equally evident in a smart suit as a boy in bovver boots.
The second play, Actor, is a poetic monologue delving into the world of a struggling actor. The device of the loop pedal provides a monotonous heartbeat to the play. The Actor is dressed in black, has his face whitened (the Berkoffian mask again!). The mask and the mime and the black clothes did make me think of Marcel Marceau, and indeed I then read that Berkoff was deeply influenced by Marceau.
He walks constantly, on the spot, as he mimes endless trips to auditions. On route he encounters other actors who mostly seem to be working, and his resentment builds and builds. His growing disillusionment and desperation lead him to several marriages and divorces, as he descends into a self-obsessed loser. As he descends further and further into despair, his behaviour becomes increasingly explosive, cruel, and psychotic. The mask gradually runs in rivelets down his face -the mask is melting. From hopeful but frustrated to grimly cruel and dehunanised - the actor’s unhappy arc of failure is painful to watch. Stephen Smith emanates suppressed energy brilliantly in this very physical performance. It was riveting.
The Production by Three Dumb Theatre will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Look out for future shows by them if you like your theatre intense, minimalist and unforgettable.
By Julie Stevenson
- Produced by Three Dumb Theatre
