Dog, Woman, Man – Play Review

There are moments in a heated argument between a couple, when we see the clear double standards men hold women to. She shares a story over dinner among friends of her former love life, he gets embarrassed, comes home, is passive aggressive, then unleashes an angry tirade. "That's different," he says when she retorts that he too has a few skeletons in his closet. "I was lonely."
"What do you think I was?" her scathing reply.
That was my favourite moment on stage in the play Dog, Woman, Man playing at the Goethe Institute. The equalizing of genders, the fearless declaration that a woman's desires, reasons and psyche can be the same as a man's. Power dynamics are very evidently on display here and completely shifts by the end of the play. Reetu Sattar has given us a brave, bold production that keeps you drawing parallels between the literal and metaphoric. It is definitely worth attending.
A young couple, find a stray dog and bring him home. Their relationship unfolds - we witness its undulation, punctuated by inner monologues and the insightful observations of the Dog. From the lazy frolicking in and out of arms to the oblivion to each other's plight, then the subjugation of cruelties upon one other, the couple stay together, dependent and desperate, until finally we sense a reconciliation. I say sense because the reconciliation is not so convincing to me.

A promotional shot of the play.

Originally a story written by Israeli author Yael Hedaya, Dog, Woman, Man, a three-person play, was adapted by German playwright Sibylle Berg in 2002. My conversation with Reetu Sattar, who both wrote the script and directed, revealed that her interpretation was closer to Hedaya's version.
The role of Woman is brilliantly executed by Samina Luthfa Nitra. The subtleties of her expression convey a range of emotion, her energy emanates throughout the room and she is every bit as strong and seductive as the role requires her to be. The Dog played by Shahriar Ferdous Sazeeb delivers the tired wisdom of an old sage. Shahadat Hossain, the Man, disarms us with that Cheshire smile.
Projections show social media updates, the staging is minimalist, clean and functional. After the easy fluidity of the first half, I felt the second half was somewhat stagnant and failed to engage as much. The play tackles a conventional subject matter in a very non-conventional way and I was glad to see the uninhibited representation of urban, modernist sensibilities on stage.
English language plays are rare in Dhaka and I applaud the efforts of the theatre community and institutions like Goethe that make this possible. I hope we see more productions like this in the future.
Performances run Tuesday to Saturday (27th-31st) at 7:00pm at the Goethe-Institut Bangladesh. Address: House 10, Road 9 (new), Dhanmondi R/A, 1205 Dhaka, Bangladesh. Tickets available at Goethe-Institut Reception, advance sale: 200 BDT, box office: 300 BDT.