Edinburgh is usually a grey, misty city, with the Fringe managing to bring colour and livelihood to it even just for August. However, within a sea of upbeat and cheerful shows exploring the brightness in life, in Dog Funeral Zoe Wohlfeld explores the comedy found in death — one of the most taboo topics in art.
First appearing in an all-black Victorian morning garb, it is clear that Wohlfeld has a unique way of summoning the audience’s attention. Her ability to perform comedy purely through facial expressions is extremely impressive. With a powerful presence and excellent physicality, Wohlfeld’s acting is evidently strong, lying in the sweet spot of comedic exaggeration while not being overly oppressive.
Although the show is strictly a comedy, its underlying topic is unavoidable. That is, the death of our loved ones — in this case, Twinkle, Zoe’s childhood dog. Coating the reason of death in a shell of dark humour, laughing seems like the slightly immoral but still right thing to do. Wohlfeld’s over-the-top sadness is perfect for the silly undertone of the show, weakening the guilt from the audience when they behave in the completely opposite way as to what is expected at a funeral.
Dog Funeral is, with no doubt, an absurd comedy. However, brushing off its witty veil, we find out that the writers — Wohlfeld and Jack Grossman — encoded their own philosophy of the five stages of grief within this hour-long performance. Each stage — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance — is stitched in every line and action of Wohlfeld’s. The writers present a way to accept the loss of our loved ones, embrace our past mistakes, and to forcefully move on. Although it will not always be easy, we will need to experience this process at one point in our lives.
Overall, Dog Funeral is magnificent, hilarious, and full of surprises. Although some of its techniques are slightly repetitive, it is a brilliant and very well-written piece of theatre. If at one stage we are forced to face the loss of our loved ones, why not take the experience of grief to its absolute limit and see it as a beginning, rather than an ending?
Dog Funeral has finished its Fringe run.
Image provided to The Student for press use.
