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Grief and fluff: Tiger @OmnibusTheatre

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Death is something we all will face. After all, nobody gets out of here alive. But how do you get past it when grief is all you can feel? And this is the premise of Tiger, currently playing at Omnibus Theatre . It's a fascinating exploration of the stages of grief. And with a terrific cast to take you on this journey, it's an endearing and sweet story that has you engaged from the start, wondering what will happen next.  We are introduced to Alice (Poppy Allen-Quarmby) as she gives a stand-up routine. It's not particularly funny and starts to veer into the topic of dying. Something isn't right. She used to be good at this but can't move forward. Soon, she is back in her London apartment with her partner Oli (Luke Nunn), discussing that they need to get a lodger to make ends meet.  Oli is a doctor working night shifts at the local NHS hospital. Alice is not ready to face a return to stand up or anything. So when the first potential lodger arrives (Meg Lewis), looking

Dog gone: The Dog Walker @JSTheatre

In a city of strangers, two struggling eccentrics come together in Paul Minx’s The Dog Walker. The only trouble is that they’re not particularly likeable and it’s a pretty unconvincing story. Nevertheless, the two performers throw everything at it. And with terrifically trashy production design, it makes this piece interesting, if ultimately unsatisfying. It’s currently playing at the Jermyn Street Theatre.

A tragicomedy of sorts, Keri (Victoria Yeates) doesn’t go out and awaits the arrival of a ghost. Her tiny New York flat is strewn with liquor bottles and dead plants. She shouts tirades at anyone from her window and seems to eke out a living by writing e-books. Her mother delivers casseroles, so she isn’t starving. But apart from that, she’s entirely alone. Except for her dog - an old Pekingese - that she hires a dog walker to take out from time to time. And so enters Herbert Doakes (Andrew Dennis), a devout Jamaican immigrant with an ethical streak who is holding down a few jobs in the service economy.

When it becomes clear that there are no dogs to be walked, the two strike up an unlikely relationship of two people lost in New York. But as the piece progresses, there's little to endear the audience to either of them. And as an exploration of the service economy or mental illness, it  doesn’t go anywhere. It also seems to defy its own logic. Why is Doakes fired after Keri sends a scathing letter about him to the dog walking company, given we’re told earlier that the company had flagged her as a problem customer?

Yeates and Dennis try to make sense of this piece and throw themselves into these characters, which makes it watchable. And Isabella Van Braeckel’s design of Kerri’s flat is full of intricate details you will find yourself studying them during this piece. Although if the story was more interesting, this wouldn’t be happening.

Directed by Harry Burton, The Dog Walker is at Jermyn Street Theatre until 7 March.

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Photos by Robert Workman

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