Fengar: Plays

Devil Dog Six

By Fengar Gael

Devil Dog Six. Set in the competitive world of thoroughbred racing, Devil Dog Six is a dark comedy of obsession and betrayal. A young woman jockey falls from a horse, and her recovery leads to a radical transformation, a singular quest of body and soul to conquer the sport of kings. Devil Dog Six gallops along at lightning speed, mixing fantasy and mystery while exploring racial and gender inequities.

THE SCRIPT

SYNOPSIS

History:

Devil Dog Six was commissioned by the InterAct Theatre of Philadelphia through the National New Play Network, and was subsequently work-shopped at New Jersey Repertory, Long Beach Playhouse, Penguin Repertory, the National New Play Network showcase in Chicago, and Fullerton College. It was given a full production by the Moxie Theatre of San Diego and won the Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Play. It was also produced by the Venus Theatre of Laurel, Maryland, The Landing Theatre of Houston, Texas, the Detroit Repertory Theatre, and given a workshop production by The Spiral Theatre Studio of New York City.

REVIEWS

Winner of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Play.

"A fanciful, freewheeling new play...the actors play the jockeys, the horses and everybody else in this deftly feminist fable... This lively and highly original script should get around -- anywhere young women dream of equality, wake up to reality, and then, if they're smart, adjust and take off again." (Selected in the TOP TEN plays of 2007 in the Dec. 23rd San Diego Union-Tribune)
Anne Marie Welsh, San Diego Union-Tribune

"Fengar Gael's world premiere comedy-drama takes place on several levels. It's a mystery, a comic roller-coaster, and a subtle examination of gender types and differences. The play jumps form genre to genre with the speed of a bullet workout. It's got so much craft, spirit, and scope you wonder why San Diego hasn't seen more of the obviously talented playwright's work.
Jeff Smith, San Diego Reader

"The fun of this play is traveling with Devon as she transforms into a spiritual form...capable of communicating with horses as she's reborn with a mane, yellow teeth, and even speaks 'horse'. Moxie Theatre's Devil Dog Six provides the audience with entertainment on many levels, and it certainly beats going to the races. Devil Dog Six is nothing less than a sure winner."
Cuauhtemoc Q. Kish, San Diego Theatre Scene,

"Playwright Gael likes to infuse her plays with mystery, fantasy, the supernatural and science fiction. They're all in the saddle in her latest play, a feminist view of the very masculine sport of horse racing - and so much more... In the domain of the supernatural alone, she's got out-of-body experiences, horse whispering, and voodoo ritual. The flexible cast of six plays some 24 roles, including horses and their jockeys, often one after the other, in the breathtaking racing scenes." Pat Launer, San Diego Theatre Scene

"Everybody wins at this track....Gael's delicious comedy...hysterically funny...a gem of a play. The unalloyed joy of the play -- aside from its exploration of the fascination young women have for horses and the difficulty making it in a male world where too much ambition in a woman is unseemly -- are those moments when humans become horses and thunder down the track."
Charlene Baldridge, La Jolla Village News

"Here is a writer who pushes all the normal boundaries of storytelling to produce an effect of sheer delight. Our role is to enjoy the ride... It is my hope that this play will go far. Watch this playwright. She has many more great surprises in store for the theatre going public."
Michael Buss, Stage Critter, Santa Ana, California

"Devil Dog Six ..deep down is a plea for woman power and racial tolerance..."
Jean Lowerison, Gay and Lesbian Times, San Diego