Four Dogs and a Bone & The Wild Goose

by John Patrick Shanley

FOUR DOGS AND A BONE. Brenda, a seemingly guileless young actress, takes a meeting with Bradley, a troubled, middle-aged producer, to discuss the film on which they are working. Brenda wants to be a star, she even chants for it! But Collette, the other actress in the film, is in her way, so Brenda must convince Bradley that the film is in serious trouble unless he makes certain changes, one of which is taking out Collette's part. Bradley, knowing full well that the film is seriously over budget, intimates that he will effect Brenda's suggestions if she can convince her stepbrother, a giant movie star, to make a cameo appearance in the film, guaranteeing more capitalization and the cachet of success. Meanwhile, Collette has her own agenda: She knows she's not as young as she once was. She tries to convince Victor, the writer, to alter the film so she can be the heroine, or else, this, his first film, is destined to be lost in art houses or, worse, go directly to video. Victor, a na�ve young writer from Off-Off Broadway, doesn't know how to handle any of this, and his mother just died. He needs to mourn and to drink himself into a stupor before he changes his screenplay. Later, in the make-up trailer, Brenda and Collette find out they've been trying to stab the other in the back which leads to the kind of cat fight only actresses do and culminates in a mock-bonding. All hell breaks loose in the final scene when Bradley and Victor confront one another over the state of the film and are interrupted by Brenda and Collette, and all the lies and backbiting are exposed as these four dogs go after their bone. (2 men, 2 women.) THE WILD GOOSE. When the story opens, we find Jameson and Renaldoamongst table and chairs, deciding if they can live together in the world or not. They share their water and peanuts as they tear each other down to gain the upper hand. Jameson shoots Renaldo dead. Just in time, for Ramona comes in and now Jameson can have her all to himself. But Ramona misses Renaldo and nothing is settled until Renaldo jumps up! Alive again! Aha, now Ramona must choose between them. This presents a problem since Ramona was just about to hang herself. Jameson shoots her instead to forego the grief of a suicide. Soon the wild goose hovers over the scene with its majestic sound and beauty. Ramona jumps up just after Jameson shoots the bird, and it falls at their feet. Can anything survive in this world? They wonder as they all sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and prod the goose to come alive again, which, in time he does, to join the living. (2 men, 1 woman.)"

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

72 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

John Patrick Shanley was born in The Bronx, New York City, to a telephone operator mother and a meat-packer father. He is a graduate of New York University, and is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

For his script for the 1987 film, Moonstruck, Shanley won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

In 1990, Shanley directed his script of Joe Versus the Volcano. Shanley also wrote two songs for the movie: "Marooned Without You" and "The Cowboy Song."

In 2004 Shanley was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame.

In 2005, Shanley's play Doubt: A Parable was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Drama Desk Award and Tony Award for Best Play. Doubt: A Parable, is featured in The Fourth Wall, a book of photographs by Amy Arbus in which Shanley also wrote the foreword.

In 2008, Shanley directed a film version of Doubt starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.

Reviews

[Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't help but feel that this could be an even sparser and tighter one act play. Some great dialogue though , worthy of reference for some scene study. Not an all time favourite play for me, but worth reading .

[Jordan Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 🌟 for four dogs and a bone, 3 for the wild goose

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four Dogs is Shanley at his most cynically cynical, while Wild Goose is him at his most cynically romantic. Like a lot of his work, these probably play better than they read, so if you're an actor looking for scenes, you will not be disappointed, but if you want to read something cool, it depends on how big your hankering for nasty Hollywood politics is.

[Kym Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

cannot say i was a fan of the wild goose.....four dogs and a bone was delicious however

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. Great characters and hilarious af. Wish more happened in it though.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little play, a lot of fun. The scene I had for my class was the one in the bar, and it was so easy and fun to play.

[Elise Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only read Four Dogs and a Bone...

[Tanish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trickier than it appears...

[Aleigha · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO F****** FUNNY.