Review: B*tch Eat Dog, Greenside @ George Street

B*tch Eat Dog already feels like a show that could develop a cult following. Tonight’s crowd is rowdy, and more than a few already seem to know what is coming next. More than once, we hear a muttered “Oh, I love this one” as a new sketch starts.  

It’s basically a puppet sketch show that is very much not for the kids. It might start (almost) PG with its retelling of Moby Dick as a Punch and Judy show, but from there it descends further into the abyss of total chaos, ending with a talking uterus and a singing dick. In between the gentle start and the barking conclusion, there is a hotdog bun support group in heaven, an advert for turning your tears into weapons and a shadow puppet performance of a gynaecology procedure. It’s all rather bonkers. 

There is a connection between each sketch, albeit that’s maybe not totally obvious if you haven’t read writer-performer Mel Carter‘s programme notes in advance. It really becomes most obvious in Anthony Sellitto-Budney‘s old white male host who reappears between sketches, even if he quickly realises he is very much unsuited to front a show about women, consent and the continued imbalance in the gender roles. Yet he tries his best to learn and change, with rather mixed results. This perfectly shows the difficulties of finding the right balance in how men can support women and minority groups without it seeming purely performative. Our host certainly shows how easy it is to get it totally wrong, however good the intentions might be.

The comic and puppetry talent is clear. Carter and Sellitto-Budney rattle through the scenes with ease, tackling a full range of puppets as if they have been doing this since birth. Some of the designs are amazing; the decaying face of the old woman brought back via the séance is beautifully detailed with its rotting flesh, while the old white male host, life-size and attached to Sellitto-Budney’s waist, makes you almost forget there is a real person standing less than one foot behind it. 

The third member of the troupe, Camille Charlier, provides all the music to support the performance. They’re also responsible for the talking oysters perched on top of keyboards, acting as hecklers to the host, berating him for his perceived bigotry each time he tries to change to demonstrate his feminist credentials. There is surely more than a little influence from The Muppets’ Statler and Waldorf here.

B*tch Eat Dog is a fun, chaotic hour. The skill on show is undeniable, from the performances all the way through to the puppet design. If they can work on bringing all the elements together more strongly and address the core theme that Carter is aiming for, then this could easily become a late-night cult classic.

Writer: Mel Carter
Music: Carmille Charlier
Stage Manager: Davis Keaney
Set Design: Mel Carter and John Parmelee
Lighting Design: Mel Carter
Sound Design: Jack Collins
Costume Design: Mia Carini
Production: McKenzie Elliott, Chris Sanderson & Davis Keaney
Puppet Design: Mel Carter, Ali Etesamifar, Maddie Shubeck, Max Kountz, Gail Bennett

B*tch Eat Dog has completed its run at Greenside as part of EdFringe.