Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Melis Aker’s HOUND DOG predictably explores the perils of cross cultural identity

• By drediman
• October 26, 2022
• No Comments

Earlier this week, Melis Aker’s Hound Dog opened Off-Broadway at Greenwich House courtesy of Ars Nova and PlayCo, a pair of theater companies well versed in incubating and presenting up-and-coming voices and their works. Ms. Aker’s new play tells the story of a brilliant young musician who returns indefinitely to her hometown of Ankara, Turkey to care for her recently widowed father after having spent some time getting a “western” education at Harvard. Perilously caught between two cultures, she faces an escalating identity crisis as she contemplates the next steps of her life (similar to Nina’s dilemma in the Tony-winning In the Heights).

The work of an eager young playwright, Hound Dog ascribes to the relatively recent trend among theater-makers to use theater as a sort of therapy session. Instead of letting dramatic circumstances organically dictate the shape and hue of the play or the scenes that make it up, these works instead become clearly plotted, two-dimensional maps toward their respective playwright’s punchline. The resulting structures backfill dramatic gaps, often times to limited success. In effect, Hound Dog feels telegraphed from the beginning, despite Ms. Aker’s attempt to beguile audiences with increasingly outlandish “Alice in Wonderland”-inspired flights of fancy (perhaps enhanced by the protagonist’s use of cannabis).

The production has been directed by Machel Ross with vibrant imagination. Ultimately, however, the staging fails to redeem Ms. Aker’s tiresome and under-baked work. Similarly, the cast attempts valiantly to inject feeling and depth into the play. Coming off most successfully are Ellena Eshraghi and Jonathan Raviv (as the conflicted protagonist and the neighborhood garbage man, respectively), both of whom attempt to ground their characterizations before letting the play’s antics take over. Perhaps the most memorable segments of the production are Ms. Aker and the Lazours’ original songs, which imbue Hound Dog with much needed soul.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

HOUND DOG
Off-Broadway, Play
Ars Nova and PlayCo at Greenwich House
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through November 5