In this delightfully macabre take on The Adventures of Pinocchio, the cricket is killed, a blue poltergeist haunts us all, the legendary Dogfish monster preys on our greatest fears and a little wooden puppet struggles to discover what it means to be real. The Wood Boy Dog Fish experience begins one hour before show time, just inside the gates of the Garry Marshall Theatre. Audiences are immersed in the mysterious and quirky carnival world with games, food, drink and surprises before they even find their seats. Wood Boy Dog Fish is a visual feast that combines masks, highly expressive physical performance, dance, interactive sets, multiple puppetry traditions, projected media and sophisticated special effects and illusions — including 3D enhancement — to transport audiences inside an old carnival ride.
Wood Boy Dog Fish
Reviews
You won't see something this unique outside of Broadway or the West End, I'd say. All the actors and puppeteers are really excellent. It takes a lot of belief from the actors to truly pull off a play the could so easily mock itself, to help create a classic. I really do think this play has the chance to become one.
I highly recommend “Wood Boy Dog Fish." The costumes are fantastic, the effects quick thrilling and, of course, the Garry Marshall Theatre is one of the most special stages in L.A., so the company is exceptional.
The Rogue Artists Ensemble has a rather checkered history. They are an imaginative group that integrates grand theatrics and excellent puppetry into their productions; sometimes with great success as in The Gogol Project, sometimes less so as in D is for Dog. As is almost always the case, what accounts for a satisfying experience — or not — comes down to script.
...Wood Boy Dog Fish offers a dazzling romp through the dark side of life, a carnival ride of rare energy and brilliance into the byways of our individual and communal souls. The script is a stunning achievement. This production (and edition), the fruit of years of working and reworking, testifies powerfully to what dedicated working at one's art can accomplish.
The show is a pretty spectacular combination of stagecraft and over-the-top theatrics that create an impressive, if at times overwhelming, experience. It's a mood piece with a message and it is right in the Rogues' wheelhouse…Despite the amazing visuals, the extra padding doesn't always sustain the modest storyline. Wood Boy's journey unfolds episodically, with each sequence contributing to the whole, yet many of the scenes go on too long. Once the point has been established and the audience wowed by the effects, it's time to move on or the forward motion of the story suffers. A repetitious "Welcome to Dogfish" opening song could easily be cut in half, and Wood Boy's traveling scenes, likely created in the company's improvisatory development process, would benefit from a stronger edit.
I was taken by Wood Boy Dog Fish at the Bootleg in 2015 and it is even more spectacular at the Garry Marshall. Count on WBDF 2.0 to be one of late spring 2018's hottest tickets.
All in all, this is a fantastic reinterpretation of Mr. Collodi's novel that manages to feel unique. The whole thing has a nice contemporary feel thanks to the wonderfully dark production values. Fans of theater or The Adventures of Pinocchio should definitely give this a look.
It is thoughts and experiences like this that fill the show with massive energy and visual as well as mental stimulation and I love shows that not only create emotion but which also generate mental stimulation, and “Wood Boy Dog Fish” does that abundantly... It is a wild and zany ride and one you will long remember.
Overall, Wood Boy Dog Fish really blew me away. I truly loved it, and would definitely recommend it to people looking for a fun, new twist on Pinocchio. Kudos to the entire Rogue Artists Ensemble team on a job well done. Don't miss this run, as who knows if and when it will be back again.
Rouge Artists Ensemble flirts with the edge of something... something dangerous: something alive, something real. Excellent video and other spectacular devices by Dallas Nichols and Hardly Human FX are wonderful.
Shackle your disbelief to your bed post and come for an adventure to Shoreside!
In Wood Boy Dog Fish, we have painting, poetry, and then some. Playwright/lyricist Chelsea Sutton has revisited Carlo Collodi's picaresque novel as her source — it was first a “foolish” serial publication that starts with a talking log rejected by a frightened carpenter — to fashion two solid acts from Collodi's branching chaos of episodes and adventures.... The show is a toy-box of visual wit. - RECOMMENDED
You won't see something this unique outside of Broadway or the West End, I'd say. All the actors and puppeteers are really excellent. It takes a lot of belief from the actors to truly pull off a play the could so easily mock itself, to help create a classic. I really do think this play has the chance to become one.
I highly recommend “Wood Boy Dog Fish." The costumes are fantastic, the effects quick thrilling and, of course, the Garry Marshall Theatre is one of the most special stages in L.A., so the company is exceptional.
The Rogue Artists Ensemble has a rather checkered history. They are an imaginative group that integrates grand theatrics and excellent puppetry into their productions; sometimes with great success as in The Gogol Project, sometimes less so as in D is for Dog. As is almost always the case, what accounts for a satisfying experience — or not — comes down to script.
...Wood Boy Dog Fish offers a dazzling romp through the dark side of life, a carnival ride of rare energy and brilliance into the byways of our individual and communal souls. The script is a stunning achievement. This production (and edition), the fruit of years of working and reworking, testifies powerfully to what dedicated working at one's art can accomplish.
The show is a pretty spectacular combination of stagecraft and over-the-top theatrics that create an impressive, if at times overwhelming, experience. It's a mood piece with a message and it is right in the Rogues' wheelhouse…Despite the amazing visuals, the extra padding doesn't always sustain the modest storyline. Wood Boy's journey unfolds episodically, with each sequence contributing to the whole, yet many of the scenes go on too long. Once the point has been established and the audience wowed by the effects, it's time to move on or the forward motion of the story suffers. A repetitious "Welcome to Dogfish" opening song could easily be cut in half, and Wood Boy's traveling scenes, likely created in the company's improvisatory development process, would benefit from a stronger edit.
I was taken by Wood Boy Dog Fish at the Bootleg in 2015 and it is even more spectacular at the Garry Marshall. Count on WBDF 2.0 to be one of late spring 2018's hottest tickets.
All in all, this is a fantastic reinterpretation of Mr. Collodi's novel that manages to feel unique. The whole thing has a nice contemporary feel thanks to the wonderfully dark production values. Fans of theater or The Adventures of Pinocchio should definitely give this a look.
It is thoughts and experiences like this that fill the show with massive energy and visual as well as mental stimulation and I love shows that not only create emotion but which also generate mental stimulation, and “Wood Boy Dog Fish” does that abundantly... It is a wild and zany ride and one you will long remember.
Overall, Wood Boy Dog Fish really blew me away. I truly loved it, and would definitely recommend it to people looking for a fun, new twist on Pinocchio. Kudos to the entire Rogue Artists Ensemble team on a job well done. Don't miss this run, as who knows if and when it will be back again.
Rouge Artists Ensemble flirts with the edge of something... something dangerous: something alive, something real. Excellent video and other spectacular devices by Dallas Nichols and Hardly Human FX are wonderful.
Shackle your disbelief to your bed post and come for an adventure to Shoreside!
In Wood Boy Dog Fish, we have painting, poetry, and then some. Playwright/lyricist Chelsea Sutton has revisited Carlo Collodi's picaresque novel as her source — it was first a “foolish” serial publication that starts with a talking log rejected by a frightened carpenter — to fashion two solid acts from Collodi's branching chaos of episodes and adventures.... The show is a toy-box of visual wit. - RECOMMENDED