Good Dog

Arinzé Kene’s 2017 Good Dog is a blistering work, hot with ambition. With one performer and a run time of about two hours, Justin Amankwah’s stage presence is trance-inducing. We are left wondering where the time went as the tale is unfurled.

Set in Tottenham, our 13-year-old narrator looks down from his balcony at the thick ecosystem of inner-city life in the years leading up to the 2011 London riots. He lives in the chatter of the 'smoking boys' who sit on the corner of the wall cussing while Trevor Sr and Trevor Jr play cricket with a red cricket bat, dreaming of sporting stardom. The air he breathes every day is the same air breathed by Gandhi, the Indian corner-shop owner (whose real name Pritesh is suppressed). Our narrator hears Gandhi’s frustrated cries as the 'what-what girls' thieve candy and knick-knacks. He takes hope in Mrs Blackwood’s unfaltering smile even as her neighbour Marsha seems to shamelessly sidle closer to Mr Blackwood.

In these details lie life’s traumas - entwining, encaging. On their own they seem manageable. Together though, they are maddening. Verbal violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, racism, theft, adultery - even if one challenge is overcome, there is a thick web of others. 

And how does someone respond to this infuriating snare? Our narrator responds with good behaviour. He keeps his "shirt clean, [and] his head down", even as chaos rages around him. He's bullied at school, our narrator’s difficulties with English making him an easy target and stunting his education, the teachers offering no help. At home, his mum still slaps him 'round, and the bullying doesn’t stop. 

Perhaps turning the other cheek isn’t the way of 21st century Tottenham. Instead of taking the hit, he learns to pass it on, just like he sees his mum and bully do to him, and Gandhi do to the stray cat in his store. As he grows older, his capacity to pass the hit on grows, and he learns to relish it.

Director Rachel Chant helps piece together enough rhythm and movement to sustain the heavy script, never letting the audience’s attention wane. Hers is a soft, smart direction that doesn’t co-opt the words, but facilitates Kene’s script. 

Amankwah’s performance is brilliant. He is innocent and well-behaved, hands flapping by his side. He is a stoic young man, tears streaming down his face. He holds a brick in his hand and a target in his sight, determined not to take the hit anymore. Even if the stellar script doesn’t win you over, Amankwah’s performance of it will.

Catch Good Dog while you can. It will strike you with a great, deep sense of humanity.