| A Night at the Dogs | - At the Sir John Mills Theatre, Ipswich
- From 1st - 5th November 2005 at 7.45pm.
- Tickets £8.50 (conc £7.50, not available Friday/Saturday).
- Box office: 01473 211498.
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It's the first time the play has been performed anywhere since its London premiere at the Soho Theatre in April 2005. The story line seems simple enough - five men who work in a garage buy a greyhound and form a syndicate in the hope of making money. On the night of the first race the group meets up at the home of the syndicate organiser. It's there, at Carl's grubby one-bedroomed flat, that the problems begin. It's a fast-moving play with plenty of funny lines and friendly put-downs as the familiar workplace banter spills over into anticipation of the trip to the stadium. They are a mixed bunch of men, seemingly happy-go-lucky, but in reality leading uneventful and unfulfilled lives with varying degrees of personal problems. As Director, Steve Wooldridge says: "For the characters in this play the dog becomes a symbol of hope, of something that will change their lives and give them a greater sense of self worth. We all slide up and down the ladder of self esteem but the men in this play seem to climb no further than the bottom rung." With the arrival of the fourth member of the syndicate the dynamics of the group change. The teasing becomes abrasive and the gentle jibes turn to outright bullying.
 | | Gallery Players |
Each person at the scene has the opportunity to speak up and put a stop to the violent incident which subsequently erupts, but vulnerability and cowardice surface as the situation runs out of control. This drama has dark undercurrents and raises many issues, some uncomfortable to see and hear. Intimidation and bullying takes many forms and faced with a similar set of circumstances, at what point would we make a stand? Would our prejudices distort our innate sense of right and wrong? Steve Wooldridge tours schools using drama to do Anti Bullying work with students, so he is in a unique position to bring his own experiences to this production. I can't single out any member of the cast for particular comment as they each brought their own individual strengths to the characters they were playing, producing a riveting evening of theatre. The production features Phil Cory, Mike Cook, Steve Taplin, Tony Cook and Mike Henderson - not forgetting the debut appearance of Tigger, the greyhound. The author Matt Charman was born in West Sussex, in 1979. He won the 2004 Verity Bargate Award for 'A Night at the Dogs', his first play, which was chosen from over 700 submissions. He is now writer-in-residence at the Soho Theatre, London and is under commission with them for his second play. Greyhounds UK About 10,000 dogs retire every year from National Greyhound Racing Club racetracks. The Retired Greyhound Trust tries to find homes for these dogs. More information from: www.retiredgreyhounds.co.uk | 
