Big Dog, written by Izzy Radford and directed by Zoë Templeman-Young takes a bold look at internet true crime influencers, and the effects of violence being sold through a rose-coloured lens. The play follows journalist Eve, as she begins working as a ghostwriter for a popular “girlboss” true crime podcast Cassie Does Crime. Eve attempts to investigate the intricate web, and real personalities behind the industry, but ultimately becomes just as entangled herself.
The haunting off-stage presence of Cassie is a great device which speaks to the cult-like status of influencers, and it certainly emphasises the point of ingenuity as we see the three main characters being fully in control and responsible for Cassie’s statements on the podcast. The show’s brightest moments of humour for me were the exaggerated earmarks of internet “girlboss” media. The prescribed daily manifestations, and a full recitation of ‘The Orange’ by Wendy Cope being presented as office rituals were excellent points of referential comedy, especially for a show which focuses so heavily on online culture. The performances are mostly charming with erratic energy — Radford herself is particularly effective as Scarlett, embodying the spirit of the bubbly, though very out of touch colleague.
Visually and technically the play is impressive, with the inventive full-scale office set design being entirely neon and fluffy pink, contributing to the message of trivialisation by contrasting the work being done in it. The show’s attempt at making the Barbie Dreamhouse-esque office feel eerie through workplace tension is clear but doesn’t always land with the necessary force. The hierarchy of the three women within the office is very interesting but remains underdeveloped, and seems to only be brought in for the purpose of setting a darker tone among the comedy.
The climax attempts to interrogate all the show’s themes in one prolonged altercation, but with the story attempting to address so many nuanced subjects simultaneously, it fails to give the appropriate light to any of them. There are conflicts and tensions addressed in the climax which hadn’t previously been given a second glance and seem to appear out of nowhere. There’s one or two plot points which I thought were distracting and unnecessary, other than being used to bring up another difficult subject matter, without letting the theme have any emotional impact or weight. The overarching message of social media sensationalising human tragedy, while concluding in an interesting way, unfortunately feels hammered in.
Big Dog approaches the theme of true crime internet media, specifically targeted towards women, with clear criticism and a fresh perspective as well as timely and zeitgeisty edge. However, the narrative feels underdeveloped when buried under its message, and the script finds itself with too many cases to solve.
Big Dog is running until the 31st of August at The Dram at Guilded Balloon Patter House. Buy tickets here
Image by Zoë Templeman-Young, provided to The Student for press use.
