By: Darryl Reilly
“No one has coins anymore, just pin numbers and passwords!…Not even a fucking old tomato!” grouses a former Bronx elementary school teacher who is now a busking Times Square homeless woman upon seeing her empty tip dish. Those exclamations follow her bravura singing performance in playwright William Lyon’s absurdist extravaganza One Woman And Her Dog.
“We are IFA, Immune from acronyms!” retorts that idealistic heroine to an officious New York City government bureaucrat who has snappily recited an abbreviated litany of municipal assistance programs for those in need. We are joyously in the non-conformist territory of Herb Gardener’s A Thousand Clowns and other 1960’s counterculture satires cheekily crossed with Greek mythology and laced with sly references to the present.
The Irish Mr. Lyon retired as a distinguished philosophy professor at Trinity College Dublin and his scenario for One Woman And Her Dog is a witty philosophical take on the individual combatting society with a vaudeville slant. Indeed, placards are shown with various prophetic titles as if we are watching comedy sketches. Lyon’s archetypal characters depict the clash between the zany and the conventional and are they are enacted by a vivacious cast.
With her throaty Greek-accented voice and beaming presence, Zoe Anastassiou is a wondrous whirlwind as Diogeneia. Ms. Anastassiou sings, dances, and acts with the weight and force as if she was the lead in Mother Courage. As her canine companion Cerberus (one head fell off during Hurricane Ida and the other during the pandemic), the lithe, animated, and long-haired Alexandra Laliberte is a sensational partner in mirth. Ms. Laliberte breathlessly veers from hilarious to poignant during her grounded talking dog characterization.
Lean and wiry John Barilla pops up as a delightfully daffy Hermes cracking wise and holding up the title cards while wearing a flashy skintight outfit with a gold codpiece. Personable Maude Lardner Burke wildly trots around and authoritatively tosses off jargon as the city official and beautifully sings a wistful song while playing guitar. Visually and vocally, Joel Bernstein is droll as a by the book old-time New York City police officer out of Neil Simon. The youthful, sinewy, and ebullient Arley Trice dazzles while dancing with a hula hoop during several sunny appearances.
The stage is set with a tent, debris, and Ionic-style columns, on this simple landscape director Joe John Battista achieves striking theatricality. The show opens with gales of white smoke wafting onstage. Wearing Greek-style costumes, Anastassiou and Laliberte walk down either side of the auditorium from the rear and grandly converse. Their warm rapport is integral.
From then on, Mr. Battista’s physical staging is in full throttle with the ensemble engaging in madcap Marx Brothers-style antics while slowing down the pace to emphasize the piece’s sober tones. Besides being one of the most ubiquitous and talented New York City theater artists, Battista is also a virtuoso guitarist. He is a member of the exceptional strategically placed onstage band along with musical director Ron Raymond on keyboard and Zianni Orange on percussion. Lighting designer Brian Park’s dreamy hues accentuate the fun and pain on view. At the performance under review the production was efficiently overseen by production manager Roslyn Mckay.
This world premiere production of One Woman And Her Dog reveals it to be an amusing, edgy, and humane entertainment.
One Woman And Her Dog (through October 26, 2025)
Theater for the New City, 155 1st Avenue, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Running time: 75 minutes with no intermission
As a big fan of actress Zoe Anastassiou and director Joe John Battista, I’m excited to see this new production, hopefully tomorrow, as long as the rainy winds turn out to be below the 40 miles an hour prediction.