Review: The Little Dog Laughed

What fun. And what paradoxes are exposed when a ruthless lesbian Hollywood agent (Tamsin Greig) attempts to hide the sexuality of her gay client (Rupert Friend) so that he can land the role of a gay – yes, gay – character in a breakthrough movie.

The point so eloquently made by Douglas Carter Beane’s cracking little comedy on Hollywood hypocrisy — and so wittily expressed by Greig’s megalomaniacal Diane — is that for a straight actor to take on a gay character is brave, whereas for a gay actor, it’s more like bragging.

Harry Lloyd as the straight rent boy Alex who discovers he is gay manages to be vulnerable and streetwise at the same time. Grieg is on tip-top form in Jamie Lloyd’s production, and Beane’s writing fizzes with wit and one-liners that are priceless enough to be throwaway.

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