The reviews are in for Dog Mom, Tate Elizabeth Hanyok’s comedy about a newly divorced woman in Brooklyn who reluctantly takes in a stray golden retriever, now in its first run outside the United States at Southwark Playhouse Borough. Ajay Chowdhury directs EnActe Arts’ production in The Little, with Vinita Belani as Sarita and the dogs played by human actors, Patty Gallagher as Foster and Tom Barnes as Ruben. The critics are split well apart, from one four-star notice down to one star. Most of them like the canine performances, and Jarreau Antoine’s run of cameos; what divides them is whether the play is more than a predictable, sentimental arc.
The verdict: eight reviews in so far, seven of them rated: one four-star notice, three at three stars, one at two, one at one and a half and one at one, an average of 2.5 out of 5. Notes From Row H gives no rating. The performers fare better than the play almost everywhere, and the predictability of the story is the most common complaint.
What are critics saying about DOG MOM?
All That Dazzles
“This important, brilliantly performed play, all about our furry friends, is sure to leave audiences howling”
Reviewer: Claudia Bagley
Claudia Bagley is the warmest of the critics, enjoying the comedy from the first scene and the physical theatre of Gallagher’s Foster in particular. She praises the slow-motion rescue sequence that ends the first act and the script’s sensitive handling of motherhood. Her reservations are small ones: some abrupt projections and basic sound and lighting effects.
“Laugh-out-loud comedy is delivered from the opening scene”
LondonTheatre1
Reviewer: Chris Omaweng
Chris Omaweng, by his own account no pet person, found himself more invested in the dogs than in the humans. He finds the late turn to sentiment soppy, the set too generic for New York and Sarita’s change of heart a stretch, though he grants the central friendship something poignant. The rest of the audience, he notes, laughed far more than he did.
“I was mildly amused from time to time at the canine antics, whilst others in the audience chortled away…”
London Box Office
Reviewer: Stuart King
Stuart King calls it one of the more peculiar offerings on the fringe this autumn. He enjoys Gallagher’s irrepressible Foster and Antoine’s spread of characters, from a prim old lady to a cat, but finds the play’s questions about loyalty, kindness and responsibility only superficially explored.
“This odd little show has charm aplenty, though for some it may also prove something of a well-intentioned dog’s dinner.”
Theatre and Tonic
Reviewer: Chiara
Chiara loves the dogs, calling Gallagher sensational and Barnes brilliant, and thinks the play captures the simplicity of canine love. The humans are the problem for her: Sarita and Nell have rich backstories that are never explored. She also finds the projected set works against the illusion the dog actors build.
“The dogs are a joy. The humans they belong to are far less fully realised.”
The Spy in the Stalls
“The strong performances do rescue the play, but we never fully embrace it”
Reviewer: Jonathan Evans
Jonathan Evans enjoys the first act’s comedy and credits Gallagher and Barnes with sharp, well-observed dog performances. The second act loses him, turning into something close to a self-help manual with a predictably mawkish trip to the vet. He feels the play weakens its message by spelling it out.
“By taking itself a touch too seriously, “Dog Mom” weakens the messages that are better served with humour.”
The Reviews Hub
“Talking dogs”
Reviewer: Richard Maguire
Richard Maguire finds the play predictable and its thesis about a childless woman needing something to love close to patronising. He thinks Belani does well with weak material and calls Antoine the best thing in the show. The barking and running about, he says, quickly irritate an adult audience.
“He clearly has a talent for comedy, but even his skills can’t salvage this show.”
London Unattached
“Well meaning canine comedy goes astray”
Reviewer: Mike Stone
Mike Stone is the least persuaded. He finds the rules of who can understand the dogs confusing, the shouting tiresome in a small space and the play short on insight into our attachment to pets. He too picks out Antoine as the standout, and thinks the play needs more development.
“…it felt a bit like being a bystander watching performers at a children’s party.”
Notes From Row H
Reviewer: Helena Featherstone
Helena Featherstone enjoys the slow-motion sequences set to opera and the surreal choice of human actors as dogs, and finds an emotional core in Sarita’s journey towards self-acceptance. The familiar plot, she says, stops it feeling fresh, and the novelty wears thin before the ending. The site publishes no star rating.
“Ultimately, Dog Mom is a charming, if somewhat uneven, production.”
Production photographs by David Jensen.
For more from this week’s openings, see the critics on Baby at Brixton House, Stories: The Tap Dance Sensation at the Peacock Theatre and Ghosts at the Jermyn Street Theatre.
Dog Mom runs in The Little at Southwark Playhouse Borough until Saturday 7 November 2026, with a running time of 1 hour 50 minutes including an interval.
