Dogstar review, The Tabard Theatre

What happens when a man for whom the world holds no boundaries, starts testing yours? Dogstar is a traveller in Wild West America. When he pitches up in a town where you're charged to both drink, and discharge, water; where every woman's virginity has been bought, and taken, by the man who owns the place; where male nipples are removed at birth, and giving the finger takes on a wholly different meaning, the stage is set for something a little bit out of the ordinary.

Doggone great

Dogstar is a surreal joy, penned by Greg Freeman. The eponymous hero is the Clint Eastwood of Chiswick - long, lean, grubby, growly and deeply mysterious in stetson, bullet-spattered leather coat, wasted jeans and cuban heels. The owner of the town, the oleaginous Clay, arrives in cashmere coat and a nattily checked three piece, showing off a low slung, hand carved, holster. When the two meet, a war of ideas is declared.

Does the piece of rock that Dogstar gives Jed, the anxious barman, really have a value? And is God a woman that he beat at poker - which is what he tells Violet, the only virgin left in the county? And was it Dogstar who shot the seven Leman Brothers when they tried to rape her: he certainly admits digging their grave with the shovel for which he is searching. When the remaining Lemans threaten to raze the town, Dogstar is offered great riches - and Violet's virginity - to save them all, but all he wants is his shovel...

In conclusion: Everything about this short is perfect including Ben Warwick as the hero, Rhys King as Clay, Jaymes Sygrove as Jed, and Game of Thrones star, Laura Padelska as Violet.  The arguments around ownership and greed are glorious. If you enjoy clever, provocative, debate, peppered with laughs, it hits all the markers. Another cracker from a terrific theatre.

References
Tabard Theatre, Tickets

Tabard Theatre, Bath Road, London W4.   Production ends 30 November.