Great night out: Yes
Recommend to friends: May be too showbizzy for some tastes
Best bit: Are you British? Do you have a knighthood? Diane on Mitchell's idea of coming out

After a well received run on Broadway and a Tony Award nomination under its belt Douglas Carter Beane's satirical comedy makes its debut on the West End.

The story centres on actor star Mitchell's (Rupert Friend) journey out of the closet that ruthless agent Diane (Tasmin Greig) is determined to keep him in. A drunken phone call to Manhattan Rent Boys results in a visit from sexually confused male prostitute Alex (Harry Lloyd).

A Little Dog laughed attempts to take a stab at celebrity and Hollywood cliché. However in the process seems to fall into some of its own traps. The portrayal of Mitchell and Alexs growing affections is a little awkward. The pair's yearning stares and long embraces are not particularly convincing, the fact that they are more often that not standing in their underpants does not help. In addition to falling for Mitchell, Alex also happens to sort of have a girlfriend Ellen (Gemma Arterton). Despite Ellen's rather thin characterisation former Bond girl delivers a good performance.

However star of the show is definitely Miss Greig as the ruthless and brazen lesbian agent she extracts every ounce of wit from the script. Her sparkle and brilliant comic timing manages to rescue the production.

Perhaps it was the somewhat overdone American accents that were distracting. Although the play was a reminder of Hollywoods hypocrisy about sex and homosexuality the little dog didnt seem to find what it was digging for.

A Little Dog Laughed is sharp and sassy but lacks depth and paints a rather sentimental portrait of being gay in Tinsel Town

Audience:
The Little Dog Laughed is recommended for mature audiences, containing adult themes, launguage, sexuality and male nudity.