Dog Funeral at The Pen Theatre

The Pen Theatre, an unexpected venue nestled discreetly between South Bermondsey and Queens Road Peckham. My colleagues and I cautiously approached what appeared to be an abandoned building, only to discover an atrium housing artist studios and a small tucked away bar. Behind a simple curtain hanging in the bar, a truly intimate theatre awaited with a capacity of just 40.

With drinks in hand, we were ushered in to find only the very front row available. “Oh, it probably won’t be interactive,” we whispered to each other, teetering to our seats – how delightfully wrong we were.

As someone who comes from a long line of funeral directors, it felt apt that I was the one to pen this review.

And what a funeral it was! Jack & Zoe Comedy’s work-in-progress, Dog Funeral, presented a hilariously unconventional take on grief.

Zoe Wohlfeld, playing a self-proclaimed professional mourner, masterfully orchestrated the “saddest funeral she could imagine,” for her best friend, Twinkle. The premise alone was enough to pique interest, but it was Zoe’s captivating performance that truly made the night. Even as she occasionally broke character to share a laugh with the audience or shoot a puzzled expression at our often-unhinged responses, she kept us all in stitches.

The show began with Zoe emerging from the darkness to a funeral march, clumsily draping black tulle amongst the audience. Her facial expressions and moments of awkward silence were enough to already send ripples of giggles through the crowd. The comedic blend of awkward millennial humour and classic slapstick felt just right. As a fan of the likes of ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ And ‘Fawlty Towers’, I’m unashamed to admit my love for this kind of silly, low-brow comedy, and Dog Funeral delivered it in spades.

This ‘absurd ode to mourning’ made grief unexpectedly fun. We quickly discovered that interaction was not just a possibility, but a core element of the show. Audience members were roped in to drape more tulle, bark, woop, cry (and cry HARDER!), and even emulate an orgasm. When Zoe held up a sign simply stating “1 PERSON BARK,” and the room fell silent, I found myself breaking the barrier and letting out a tentative “woof.” Little did I know, this brave bark would lead me to become Twinkle, the titular “dog” in Dog Funeral.

My journey as Twinkle was a memorable one. I was led through a timeline of the dog’s life, from nearly getting run over by a “car” (my colleague Justin, with a hula hoop), to playing fetch, engaging in a spirited “scrapping” session, and even experiencing a romance with another “dog” (an audience member). Lily, playing my devoted owner, completed the picture. My canine life culminated in my demise: a chocolate cake on my birthday, leading to my peaceful “sleep.” As I slowly fell to the ground, I was finally able to return to my seat, taking a small bow before I did so. 

Other highlights included Emma, who, in a gladiatorial sequence, broke a toy squirrel’s neck. Aoife, meanwhile, stoically held onto an onion on a stick for a large portion of the performance. 

Dog Funeral is still a work in progress, with parts to be refined and changed. But for us on this particular Monday night, it absolutely worked. The show, a testament to the creative duo Jack & Zoe Comedy’s unique blend of clowning, improvisation, and theatrical absurdity, their ability to deliver consistent laughs through simple physical comedy felt like a guaranteed success, selling out the tiny Pen Theatre.

Pretending to be a dog on a Monday night in a small theatre, tucked behind a bar in an old industrial building in South Bermondsey was certainly not where I anticipated finding myself. But being run over by my hula hoop wielding colleague whilst playing fetch? It was, in the best possible way, exactly where I needed to be.

Illustration by Amy Anderson for our Cultural Calendar.