Review: Sick Dog, Etcetera Theatre

The idea of living alongside robots and welcoming them into our homes is hardly new, yet Sick Dog offers a fresh opportunity to explore that relationship on stage, and it’s difficult to recall seeing it approached quite like this before. This two-hander sees Cara Crofts and Pearl D’Souza take on the roles of Winnie and Eliza. Winnie is unwell, though the nature of her illness is never made explicit; we are left questioning whether she is genuinely sick, whether she will recover, or whether her condition exists primarily in her mind. The production never settles on an answer, and this ambiguity works in its favour.

Winnie, a Doctor of Science, has created a robot and brought her into her home while she recuperates. At first, Eliza’s function is simple: cooking, cleaning, tidying and carrying out the practical tasks one might expect from a household robot. As the play progresses, however, Eliza begins to develop increasingly human traits. She laughs, smiles and starts asking more abstract questions, a shift that pushes the piece into more intriguing territory and raises broader questions about the boundaries of artificial intelligence and emotional dependency.

It is an idea with considerable potential, and writer Maariya Khalid is clearly onto something compelling. The production probes how far our relationship with technology might evolve and how much we may ultimately come to rely on it. There is also a striking emotional dimension: both Winnie and Eliza are, in their own ways, profoundly alone, and the play gestures towards the possibility that their connection may be as much about companionship as practicality.

The writing, however, still feels as though it is in development. There are plenty of engaging ideas here, but several would benefit from deeper exploration. The production raises important questions, yet at times it feels as though it stops just as those questions become most interesting, a sense of thematic momentum that doesn’t always fully follow through.

Both actors deliver strong, grounded performances. Crofts brings thoughtfulness and emotional depth to Winnie, while Pearl D’Souza is particularly compelling as Eliza. Her portrayal requires impressive physical precision: the controlled blinking, the measured arm movements and the deliberate speech patterns all suggest a being attempting to imitate humanity without quite achieving it. At one point, her blinking seemed almost patterned; whether intentional or not, it demonstrated just how committed and detailed her physical characterisation was.

As with most Fringe productions, the set is minimal, consisting of just a chair, a kitchen table, a makeshift sofa and scattered beanbags. It effectively conveys the sense of an unkempt flat belonging to someone who has perhaps slightly given up on life. There are, however, moments where greater attention to detail would strengthen the world-building. A risotto that looks more like rice pudding, or a Tesco surface wipe used to clean hands and a spoon, are small choices that momentarily pull the audience out of the play’s reality.

Still, the central idea remains intriguing, and the two performers do the material justice. Sick Dog may still be finding its final form, but it raises compelling questions about the increasingly blurred boundaries between human beings and the technology we invite into our lives. It is a piece with strong performances, a thoughtful premise and clear scope for further development. This leaves you curious to see where it goes next.

Written by: Maariya Khalid 
Directed by: Lily Gilchrist 
Produced by: Tilly Horsfield

Sick Dog has completed its performance at Etcetera Theatre but transfers to The Bread & Roses Theatre from Tuesday 11 August