Chattanooga Pulse

“The public enjoys watching movie stars struggle—the more popular they are, the more they are looked at. It becomes a bit of a sport.”

Magge Hudgins is directing The Little Dog Laughed at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, a piece of theatre by Douglas Carter Beene that focuses on the struggle that movie stars face when confronted with morality vs. professional advancement under the limelight of celebrity.

When asked what makes this a typical circle play for the CTC, Hudgins asserts,  “This definitely fits the criteria for a Circle play. It is material for adults—an off-color comedy of manners with a certain amount of intensity that not only satirizes Hollywood but also the moral integrity type of questions usually reserved for the Circle.”
The play takes place in both New York and Los Angeles and centers on Mitchell (Hunter Rogers), an up-and-coming movie star in Hollywood. He has already won some awards and achieved recognition, and his agent Diane (Wendy Tippens) wants him to move his career forward.

“Diane is a bit of a manipulator,” says Hudgins. “She’s a puppeteer playing with people’s lives to forward her own career. She’s sort of laughing at what she’s capable of doing. While Mitch struggles with some things in his life that could possibly ruin his career, she persuades him to go otherwise [in a direction of moral ambiguity.]”
Diane says Mitchell suffers from “a slight recurring case of homosexuality.” However, Mitchell’s struggle is not with his homosexuality. Mitchell falls in love with Alex (Cody Keown) who has a girlfriend (Jennelle Gilreath) and he begins questioning what happiness means to him.

All of the characters begin asking the same questions: What’s considered happiness? How can I make you happy? How can I make myself happy? Hudgins postulates that whatever it is that would really make you happy may not be something you’re proud of or even want to admit—a theory that many of us can relate to.

“[Mitch] wonders whether he is ready to take on such a turmoil within himself,” says Hudgins. “Should he out himself with Alex? [Is he prepared to] give up being a movie star?”

While the theme of happiness is universal, Hudgins thinks the play also says a lot about the business of “the business” in a way that will make everyone stop and think.
“Besides his struggle between career and personal life, [Mitch] has to think about ‘the life’—keeping in the loop, in those circles that will further his career—doing what it takes to succeed. I think a lot of people struggle with their careers and what they have to give up. You have to know what you have to take care of in your life and [realize] that you may have to stop being vain.”

In her own work as director, Hudgins approaches every script the same way. She tries to communicate what she thinks the playwright is communicating by analyzing the text and characters and researching the history of the play.

“I hope I’m able to tell the story. It’s sort of like being a detective. I try to make the voice of the playwright heard as he intended; it’s doing the best you can without him [Douglas Carter Beene] sitting there listening if I have questions.”

As far as “the business” goes, “Diane is the playwright’s tongue-and-cheek nod to being a pawn in this whole business. It hits home with the playwright—people go to the cinema as opposed to theatre. The satirical part is that Diane’s laughing, but laughter can sometimes be cruel,” she says.

In terms of celebrities referenced in the play, Hudgins says that there isn’t any hard evidence towards anyone in particular.

“The cast has here and there talked about Tom Cruise,” she reveals. “In none of the research is he named, but that’s something we fabricated. It was probably just late and we were having fun. But see—we were doing exactly what the play is satirizing!”

The Little Dog Laughed
8 p.m.
January 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30
Circle Stage, Chattanooga Theatre Centre
400 River Street, (423) 267-8534.
www.theatrecentre.com