Bad Dog

Bad Dog, a world premier play by Harley Elias and directed by Michel Hausmann, centers around the idea of identity politics in art. Set in a blue chip Miami gallery during Art Basel, we see hierarchy devolve as a performance artist by the name of David decides his newest piece is to live there as a dog for the month. This multimedia dark comedy challenges what it means to climb in the industry, to truly do what you love, and to be labelled by society.

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This was my first fully realized production of a new work, rather than a workshop, so it helped me develop my skills in terms of distributing new pages and tracking line changes. We had scenes being edited all the way through tech, and it worked my muscle in both the hard skills (making sure everyone was using the proper script) and the soft skills (checking in with the performers and running lines with them to make sure everyone felt comfortable as things moved quickly.) It is also amazing to be able to see where the future of this script goes, and hope to see it performed again some day.

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This process, for me, was a slightly challenging one on the technical front due to the fact that we did not have a props designer until the week before tech. Myself and my paperwork were relied on heavily to make sure things would run smoothly when we got onto the stage. I put my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree to use in crafting rehearsal props as stand-ins, some of which were used up until previews. With that physical challenge, also came strong communication on all fronts to determine was what was still needed, and getting the correct items where they needed to be within a matter of hours. ​

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I also wanted to mention one of my favorite moments in this show, that was found in rehearsal and then added in by the playwright, which was the Gallerina's breakdown in the final scene. The actress playing the Gallerina, Liba Vaynberg, decided that her buildup needed a physical release, and it settled on her shattering a mug against the wall then sweeping every paper off the desk onto the floor. It was not my first time working with breakaway dishes, having previously done it in La Boheme for Musetta dropping a plate, but it was my first time dealing with fake glass on the floor while an actor crawls around on his hands and knees (Caleb Scott, playing David/Dog). We created a safety movement for him to alert us of anything that may have gone wrong from his kneepad unclipping, to needing more water. While I'm mentioning water, I will also bring up that this show has a decent amount of consumables including the breakaway mug, bottle of water, bowl of dog food, glasses of wine, dog treats, fake artwork, etc. It kept me on my toes to make sure everything was not running low or expiring.