WHAT DOGS REALLY THINK
ABOUT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Those of us who have ever lived with a beloved canine companion (I hesitate to use the word “owned” since I question who really owns whom) certainly know the amount of time spent happily together sharing human concerns and feelings with no hope of a canine verbal response. Yes, you can get conversation buttons for the floor and train a dog to “speak” a few words, but how can a dog possibly share their innermost joys, concerns, or fears through just a few words?

I encourage you to “go for a ride” to see Barra Grant’s world premiere play Go Play! — which she directs at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A. — for her insider’s interpretation that will get you thinking, laughing (a lot), and shedding a few tears remembering how attached we are to our canine buddies.

Peter Pasco as Drac (Mutt), Christopher Schellinger as Zeus (Poodle),
and Janine Venable as Lucille (Yorkie)

Produced by Pageant Productions, the cast features seven outstanding character-driven actors, three paired as humans with three distinctly different canines who take us along as they visit Central Park, a vet office, and three very different homes and social settings where their treatment varies from being totally loved as an equal life partner, being an emotional support animal to a lonely woman looking for a husband, or to being totally ignored in a home full of human control issues during a couple’s break-up. Given the amount of laughter in many situations, no doubt you will see yourself and your canine companion mirrored in the best and worst of times.

Ralph Cole, Jr. as Tyrell and Christopher Schellinger as Zeus

The first bonded pair are Ralph Cole, Jr. as Tyrell, a very flamboyant Broadway musical star with wild gray hair and Chris Schellenger as his Westminster award-winning and whip-smart Poodle, Zeus, who often break into song with accompanying howls or share quotes about life from movies watched together. But Zeus is fighting an ear infection which turns into something more serious. So, after a vet appointment when the two head outdoors to celebrate life by dancing and singing to “My Blue Heaven” (or was it “Put on a Happy Face”?), we witness a thoughtful and totally entertaining celebration of life thanks to Grant’s sensitive direction and the skill of the actors. A nice touch was the two enjoying the vet’s cannabis lollipops.

Janine Venable as Lucille (Yorkie) and Lisa Joffrey as Arlene

Lisa Joffrey portrays lonely-hearted Arlene with Janine Venable as her incredibly cute pink-tutu-dressed Yorkie, Lucille, who struts her sexy Emotional Support Animal stuff to not only warm Arlene’s heart but gain the attention of the two male dogs in the park. For even though all three are fixed, Lucille admits “there’s nothing wrong with wanting to cuddle” when she decides to warm up next to Drac to soothe his loneliness, just as she does with Arlene when they sleep together in bed or on the couch. But when Arlene starts dating a cantor from JDate who forbids allowing Lucille in the bedroom with them, you can guess which one gets to stay in the apartment.

Susan Huckle as Rose and Peter Pasco as Drac 

And Susan Huckle portrays Rose, the new-to-New-York submissive wife who talks endlessly to keep herself company while searching for a human friend to really care about what happens to her. Peter Pasco runs around as her ignored and ill-mannered Mutt, Drac, who reaches out to the other two dogs in the park for companionship. It’s heartwarming to watch as Rose and Arlene become friends, especially as Rose starts learning Yiddish (very badly) after being invited to Arlene’s temple one night. Has Rose finally found her chosen family? But poor Drac (named by Rose’s equally ill-mannered son) does not fit into how she decides to live her life after her husband leaves. Drac’s heartbreaking loneliness will pull at your heartstrings and then make you sigh will relief when he tells Lucille that cuddling with her in the park “feels like home,” something the poor mutt has never really known before.

Scott Golden as Cantor, Janine Venable as Lucille (Yorkie), and Lisa Joffrey as Arlene

Rounding out the cast is Scott Golden as the Multi-role Man, morphing between dog walker, vet, an ultra-orthodox cantor from J-Date, and Rose’s brutally controlling husband. Each character is so distinct in presentation, it’s easy to forget just one incredibly talented actor is portraying all of them. Costumes designed by Lisa Lupo perfectly contribute to the illusion.

With so many different scenes flipping between locations, scenic design by Jerry Buszek requires time-consuming background changes, each a beautiful piece of black and white art work. But the need to change the large canvases on a rotating valance between scenes is often distracting and could have been handled much more quickly with the use of projected backdrops. Then again, each change was entertaining to watch and allowed the actors to change costumes for their next scene – but there were a few too many that interrupted the show’s flow.

Christopher Schellinger as Zeus, Scott Golden as Veterinarian, Ralph Cole, Jr. as Tyrell

Especially lovely is Emmy-winning composer Mark Adler’s score, which includes perfectly-timed barks to lessen the effect of long scene changes while adding a bit of canine whimsy to the production. And perhaps a better-flowing ending would help combine the three intersecting stories on a more secure footing.

Grant shares in program notes that her creation was inspired by the amount of talking she did with her teddy bear as a young child, knowing that he talked to her. “Then I got a dog [who] talked to me too.” And even though her parents told her to “cut it out.” But knowing how “human beings hear their animal’s talking as barking,” she was ready to prove just how much dogs have to say about the behavior of their human companions. And it’s an extraordinarily hopeful visit into the amazing world of imagination.

photos by Jim Cox Photography

Go Play!
Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd
ends on November 2, 2025
for tickets (starting at $40), visit Go Play