THEATER REVIEW
“Stray Dogs”
Grade: C
Through Aug. 10. 7 p.m. July 28; 8 p.m. July 29 and Aug. 1; 2 p.m. Aug. 4; 8 p.m. Aug. 10. $18-$23. Actor's Express (at the King Plow Arts Center), 887 W. Marietta St., Atlanta. 1-866-811-4111, www.essentialtheatre.com.
Bottom line: Not much bark or bite, despite a sharp and steady leading man.
Notwithstanding a couple of moderately nifty special makeup effects involving low-life criminals getting shot in the head or burned with a cigarette, what you might remember most about “Stray Dogs,” an ostensibly gritty and hip crime romance set on the mean streets of present-day South Boston, is the fierce performance of leading man Lake Roberts.
Penned by popular Atlanta actor Matthew Myers and the winner of this year’s Essential Theatre playwriting award, it’s one of three Georgia-written premieres in the company’s 15th annual summer repertory (rotating with Peter Hardy’s “Mysterious Connections” and Katie Grant Shalin’s “Swimming With Jellyfish” through Aug. 11 at Actor’s Express).
Roberts — almost inconceivably, the same sweet comedian who was Songbird Boy (aka Robin/Horatio) in Essential’s “Bat-Hamlet” last season — here embodies the gruff and volatile Jackson Palmer, a petty wiseguy and loner of a certain age (35) who’s firmly set in his ways and out of touch with the times.
Striving for something “in the style of Quentin Tarantino” (according to the show’s publicity), the script embroils Jackson in a murky, muddled story about a heist gone wrong, putting him in situations and pitting him against characters that are decidedly silly one minute, suddenly deadly the next. Who are the so-called “good guys” and who are the “bad”?
Myers also gives his protagonist a quirky romantic interest in the form of a sexy teenager named Violet (Amanda Lindsey), who’s no more what she seems than Jackson is. “Classics don’t need a lot of plot twists to be entertaining,” she tells him after one of their first movie dates. But “Stray Dogs” is full of them.
Artistic director Hardy’s economical Essential staging feels flat and sluggish. The production could use a bit more polish, in terms of creating the proper noirish environment for the piece. It could use a lot more spark, too, in terms of maintaining a quicker pace and sharper tone. As is, the show lacks both dramatic tension and comedic edge.
Playing all the usual suspects, Hardy’s supporting cast is only marginal: Ashleigh Hoppe’s cold-hearted crime boss isn’t especially menacing; Aaron Gotlieb is too broad as a few dimwitted thugs; Marc Gowan blandly portrays a blackmailed psychiatrist; and Larry Jr. makes a run-of-the-mill crooked cop.
For her part, Lindsey ably handles her early scenes as a sort of would-be Hannah Montana, although she’s less effective as the character continues to develop into something else. Then again, how Violet and Jackson learn to confront their mutual loneliness and become such emotionally bonded soul mates isn’t very clearly defined by the script to begin with.
Through it all, Roberts’ vibrant performance grabs and holds our attention, even as we gradually lose interest in the rest of the story. Crime may not pay for Jackson, but Roberts makes off with the show like a bandit.
