It would be hard to sing the praises of Arinze Kene’s play Good Dog enough. The play, which Kene began writing amidst the backdrop of the Tottenham Riots, reflects an inner city life that many, myself included can easily relate to. On so many occasions, the audience around me were brought to tears of laughter or nodding appreciatively in presence of a shared history.
Good Dog tells the story of Boy, a teen who believes wholeheartedly, that good things come to good people. From the time he stated this in the early moments of his monologue, I felt butterflies in my stomach. As a thirty-something year old, I’ve enough life experience to know that his niaivity would soon be shattered, which of course, by the second act it is.
Through the words of Boy, we are taken on a journey through his neighbourhood. We learn of the challenges he faces at school and closer to home. Boy paints a vivid picture of so many different social interactions and conflicts, many of which we’ve all witnessed or been a part of ourselves. The Ghanaian ‘uncle’ who has something nice to say about everyone who passes. The shop keeper trying to police the neighbourhood ‘wot wot girls’. The mother trying to get on with her life and provide for her family when her husband goes AWOL. This play had so much sauce.
Arinze Kene is a supremely talented force both on and off stage. I found the play to be extremely well written and thought provoking. Maybe it’s because I grew up in London. It could have been what enabled me
Good Dog is touring the UK from now until the end of March. For a full list of locations, check out http://www.tiatafahodzi.com/
