There’s a well known saying that actors should never work with children or animals. I’ve always thought that was a silly saying. Theatre is about life and sometimes all life is there – children and animals included.
And where would Annie be without Sandy the dog or Bruiser Woods in Legally Blonde? I suppose the saying is from the actor’s point of view, in other words watch out there could be trouble ahead because both animals and children can be unpredictable at times. I think that’s what makes them more interesting. Don’t we love it when the animal misbehaves for better still, decides to mark its territory?
I was once involved in a tour with a Slovakian theatre company who needed a dog but they didn’t bring one with them so every town we arrived at we had to seek out a theatrical dog. It worked out fine because the dog didn’t have much to do. Until we reached Glasgow. The chosen dog seemed very calm in the rehearsal run through but once the audience was in it pricked up its ears and became excitable. Whereas before it was calm and mostly lying asleep it was now pacing up and down backstage. We crossed our fingers as the curtain rose and the show began. For a while all was well and then the dog decided to go on a sniff journey of discovery. The audience seemed to enjoy this and although the actors clearly didn’t they carried on. At one point in the play they made an omelette onstage and the dog was intrigued by this but thankfully didn’t try to eat it. The actors survived with the dog until the very end of the play. It finished with a spectacular sequence where the three major characters suddenly flew into the air on concealed wires. In the story they had become angels. The audience was surprised and transfixed but the dog either thought it was hilarious or scary and started to bark and jump around from one actor to the next as the curtain came down. As I remember it the dog got the biggest row of audience.
On the other hand I was once involved in a masterclass in Riverside Studios. It meant that the director often stopped the play and explained his methods to the audience. During the show in a quiet moment a cat suddenly and unexpectedly appeared on the stage. It looked around and slowly continued on its way. The director said the actors must have seemed real to the cat as it didn’t pay them any attention at all.
So on balance I think animals in plays can add an element of interest even if you have to keep your wits about you.
