Red Dog Howls

Red Dog Howls
New York Theatre Workshop
Saturday, Oct 6 @ 3pm

Do you enjoy your genocide with a heaping side of cannibalism and marital strife?  Well then, work up that appetite and reserve your tickets to Red Dog Howls now.  This 90-minute intermission-less play starts innocently enough with the burning of some mysterious letters but closes with a shocking scene that will leave you devastated - unless, of course, you’re a heartless, soulless shell of a human being.  I don’t want to spoil the ending, but long after the houselights came up, many audience members were still glued to their seats in stunned silence (including Trish and I - minus the silence, of course). 

Intense doesn’t even begin to describe what is revealed and enacted on the intimate stage at NYTW (birthplace of Rent and Once).  Through a series of revelations, the main character finds out he’s ethnically Armenian, though raised Greek.  Soon he discovers that his Armenian grandmother, whom he believed dead, is alive and living in Washington Heights.  Through daily visits, he learns about his new culture but also some terrible truths about his past along with tragic details of the Armenian genocide.

I know, sounds like a real downer, right?  Well, it is.  But there’s much humor in the interplay between grandson and grandmother.  Yes, we’ve seen the crotchety-old-lady-teaches-young-whippersnapper-a-thing-or-two dynamic a million times before, but the astounding Kathleen Chalfant is able to steer us clear of maudlin stereotype.   

The other cast members, Alfredo Narciso (half-Filipino, shout out!) and Florencia Lozano have a natural rapport and are believable as a couple dealing with the stresses of a wife's pregnancy in the face of her husband’s identity crisis.

The script does have some moments that veer uncomfortably close to trite sentimentality, but the incredible cast is able to overcome most of the script's weaknesses.

Bring tissues.

And don't forget to stop by Bond Street Chocolates just a few doors down from the theatre.  Go for the milk chocolate bar with caramelized almonds and sea salt - obscenely delish.