“An energetic story about a teen relationship and masculinity”
For the play’s prelude, the crowd filters in while videos of Jordan Peterson lecturing on
gender roles and selected manosphere talking heads play on screen, as our dual
protagonists stand either side, graffiti-ing whiteboards with cocks and profanities.
The play itself then opens with a Breakfast Club-style detention, the story quickly evolving
into an adolescent romance between Moth (Ben Philips) and Dog (Dylan Swain). It explores
teen young love in all its complications and heightened emotions, set against coming out in a
world humming with a new version of hyper-masculinity. From writer Aidan Monks and young
company STAAT Productions (St Andrews Art Theatre), directed by Abigail Harper and
Monks, this is a two-hander about young gay love in the time of Covid — and it heaves with
potential and energy.
The script is laced with references to the crisis of masculinity unravelling online and in boys’
heads. And the characters repeatedly reference the wider cultural noise in their words and
actions. There is real tenderness here, as both characters give accounts of how painful both
overt bullying and the casual insensitivity of youth can be, and explore how neither is
emotionally ready to navigate this or their sexuality.
This play has promise and moves at a whiplash pace. Though that time-jumping storytelling
that creates this also stalls the momentum later on. Frequent time and scene changes break
up the story and muddy the narrative arc of the characters. While spoken stage directions
and the projected visual backgrounds at key moments, sometimes distract from the plot
rather than deepen it. Perhaps that is the point: a deliberately fracturing the audiences’
attention. But it also distracts from each characters’ development.
Still, this is a show of genuine potential, and deservingly selected for the National Student
Drama Festival 2026 earlier this year. The raw talent on display here in the writing, acting
and production is unmistakable.
Show listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/moth-and-dog-are-dying-to-get-out
Listings information:
Venue: Pleasance Dome
Dates: 5-31 August 2026 (not 15, 17 or 25)
Time: 13:20
Running time: 60 minutes
Fringe Box Office: 0131 226 0000