A hilarious musical comedy about family life and the glue that holds us all together, our pets
Presented by:
McKellar & McKellar
Reviewed: 28 February, 2024
Is your family dog the glue that holds everything together?
Where’s The Dog is the second musical by Erin McKellar which exposes some ugly realities of family life through comedy and music. We start by meeting Derek Williams (Adam Goodburn) who introduces us to his “picture perfect family” wife Jen (Michele Kelsey) and daughter Annabelle (Amy Roff); and of course, the family dog Billy (Jeremy Anderson). We quickly learn all is not as perfect as it seems; with each character sharing part of their own story and are also introduced to the eldest daughter Daisy (McKellar). When Billy is discovered missing; the dysfunction grows and the real question is: will Billy be found before everything and everyone become unstuck?
McKellar and Anderson’s witty writing and clear caricatures make for hilarious dialogue exchanges through the musical; especially in the duets. Roff and McKellar play the polar opposite sisters with fierce tenacity. Kelsey and Goodburn also showcase their dynamic acting as the loveless married couple.
The audience favourite, Anderson steals the show at various points. He hilariously acts on-point shockingly similar to my own family dogs and drew many laughs from the audience. Billy’s real motives are later revealed by Anderson breaking the fourth wall, and taking us through the struggles of being the family glue; including his tragic past of being dognapped from the Yorke Peninsula (presumably where he got his accent from?).
The music nods to some well known musical theatre and pop music, however some issues with sound mixing meant the witty lyrics by Anderson and McKellar were unfortunately lost.
Reviewed by Natasha Wood
Venue: Main Theatre at Goodwood Theatre and Studios
Season: 29th Feb- 2nd March
Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: $30
Bookings: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/where-s-the-dog-af2024