The Dog, The Night, and The Knife

See it if you’d like to encounter a thrilling piece of contemporary European theater, or see a nightmare staged with admirable (if creepy) lucidity.

Don't see it if you are looking for a traditional play: In this production both subject matter & form are eccentric.

Also A young woman is running, not sure where she is. Her last memory is of dinner with friends. Now she’s alone on strange terrain. Dogs bark, or is it wolves? A man she encounters proves feral himself, the 1st of a series of unsettling interactions in this production of German playwright Marius von Mayenburg’s “The Dog, The Night and the Knife,” brought to Irondale’s Brooklyn space by the J.U.S.T TOYS company. Every exchange will be life-&-death intense: Everyone the woman encounters seems driven to consume her! But she survives the nightmare. Although happenings here routinely flout natural & societal norms, nothing feels arbitrary. Playwright, director, designers & performers are all dazzlingly particular in the choices they make, eschewing the confusing abstraction that so often infects art that deals with dreamlike states. I found it all consistently gripping. Most contemporary European theater we see in NYC is director-driven. What a pleasure to encounter a vital new script!... Read more Read less

See it if you like experimental theater with demanding acting, done very well, in the round, supported with excellent lighting and sound.

Don't see it if you want everything to make sense on its own - you have to fill in what is going on and some of the action is stuck-in-time repetition.

See it if you like surrealism performed with panache and precision.

Don't see it if you want a plot and characters that change.

See it if you like existential dramas set in a surreal dystopian landscape. You're interested in the physical aspect of theater.

Don't see it if you want a fun, easy-to-follow plot with solid conclusions. You don't like surrealism. You can't get past the idea of a talking dog.

Also This dark and engaging play had me captivated from the first moment. Staged in the round with an original atmospheric soundtrack/sound design and with fantastic lighting design, you feel tied to this strange, surreal world from the first moment, even with an otherwise minimal set.

I loved the way this play dealt with a character who feels stuck in time, almost as if she is lost in a dream--who finds herself part of a world where every person is a potential predator, and nowhere seems safe. Torn between the knowledge that she should not act and the instinct that she should, this character drives her way through this difficult and horrifying landscape to try to find her way out, afraid to trust anyone.

The actors handled this difficult play tremendously well, with all of them delivering stellar performances. However, there were moments of confusion I had with the structure of the play, and lines of repeated dialogue (mussels?) that I wasn't sure were as effective as they could be.... Read more Read less

See it if If you like edgy shows with complicated plots.

Don't see it if If you like shows that have a simple plot that are not edgy.

See it if you do not care about plot, like, at all.

Don't see it if you have control issues or you absolutely need things to make sense. You don't want to risk being showered with sand.

Also This play is so unusual, and it wouldn't ordinarily be my cup of tea, but it was really well done! I'd never been to Irondale before, and I thought it was a beautiful venue. The lighting design and overall production design was simple but evocative. The acting was so committed and specific, so much so that it made up for a story that could have come across as very non-specific. This play felt like a fever-dream to me, kind of like a European psychological horror-drama. I could see it being screened in grainy, black and white film.
The actors are 100% in, and in particular, their movement work deserves special notice. Even though the show was nearly two hours long, I never got bored watching the intricacy of their choices.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to see challenging, experimental theater done exceptionally well. Great acting, smart staging and wonderful production values.

Don't see it if you want a simple story told simply. It's complex and confusing.. but that may be the point.

See it if You enjoy strange, slow-developing stories with repetitive themes, told by fantastic actors in an uniquely staged format.

Don't see it if You prefer traditional storylines with clear plot/objectives. This story folds in on itself, intentionally, and is interesting, but unclear.

See it if You like absurd dramas in the vein of Kafka.

Don't see it if You’re not into existential absurd fare.

See it if You like a well acted and produced experimental theater about dystopian world of violence and fear

Don't see it if YOU want a linear plot or musical or any standard theater

See it if You like dream like plays in a great space

Don't see it if You need realism or unambiguous storytelling

See it if You're into existential theater, European art theater or if you just want to try something different.

Don't see it if You have triggers like violence, blood. If you like happy, fun, big budget plays. If you want everything from the plot explained to you.