A Dog's House

Play against expectations with this darkly subversive take on a traditional family drama. 

A dog-like human. A human-like dog.
At our bleakest and most desperate, are we human or beast? 

Everyday, a pair of dog siblings wait to have afternoon tea with their mother. One day, a new family member appears – their supposedly long-lost eldest brother. But no one seems to remember him. Is he simply a lost mongrel, or actually a wild beast in disguise? As the family accepts the stray into their lives, the very foundations of their home begins to crumble. Violence and lust begin to stir in the narrow old apartment… 

The first prize winner of the 15th Taipei Literature Awards (Play Script category), A Dog's House is playwright Lin Meng-Huan's radical take on conventional family plays. Using the metaphor of pets and owners, the play explores intergenerational differences and identities within families, and the ensuing questions on modern society. Through animalized viewpoints, the playwright explores how the self-contradiction and conflicts between family and individual values can lead to devastation, and how we might rebuild from there.

Digging deep into the humanity coded within the text, Director Fu Hong-Zheng forges the disintegrating psychological states of each character by shaping the neurotic yet detailed interpretations in the actors' movement and voice. Derelict and dark on the surface, rich and brutal within, the eccentric, animalistic style serves to realise the deep violence buried within.