Is human consciousness a blessing or a curse?
Greek gods Hermes and Apollo debate this at Toronto’s oldest watering hole, The Wheat Sheaf Tavern, when they decide to make a wager. Apollo thinks animals would be more unhappy if they were given human consciousness. Hermes thinks otherwise. To settle this bet, they find a veterinary clinic around the corner and grant human consciousness to fifteen dogs to see if at least one of them would die happy.
The audience is then introduced to fifteen dogs, each with distinct personalities, played by six talented actors.
With human consciousness comes human intelligence, and as one dog, Prince, discovers language, he starts inventing words and deems it the “new language.” He is compelled to create poetry and finds beauty all around him. Many of the other dogs learn this “new language,” but it is not long before conflict arises.
Atticus is a Neapolitan mastiff that insists on sticking with the “old ways.” In one scene, he has a heated exchange with Majnoun, a black poodle, who asks him, “How can you silence the voice inside?” Atticus replies, “You cannot silence the voice inside, but you can ignore it.” Atticus plots against the ones that don’t conform, and only a few dogs escape with their lives. Majnoun is one of the lucky ones. He is rescued by a couple, Nira and Miguel, and goes on to push the boundaries by learning the human language. One day, he speaks to Nira, who reacts in terror. He never speaks again. Instead, their relationship develops with him communicating only using head movements.
Personally, Benjy was one of my favourite dogs to observe. He is described as a resourceful and conniving beagle who adapts to various situations. Within Atticus’s pack, he finds himself low in the hierarchy, so he flees with another dog, Dougie. They go on to live with an old woman with many cats, but when that arrangement comes to an end, they return to the pack. After Dougie is killed, Benjy becomes resentful of Atticus’ abuse of power and takes revenge by poisoning the rest of the dogs. Later, fate brings Benjy to Majnoun and the couple, who take him in. However, when Benjy tries to turn the couple against Majnoun, he is ousted and alone once again. Benjy’s journey—from powerlessness to vengeance, from companionship to betrayal, and his persistent search for belonging despite his own destructive tendencies—poignantly reflects humanity’s eternal struggle with hierarchy, a capacity for both resilience and revenge when wounded, and a complex need for connection, sometimes accompanied with sabotage of the very relationships that are sought.
The director, Marie Farsi, speaks on this theme of consciousness, which applies to humans as much as it applies to these dogs. She says, “Consciousness complicates the experience of being alive. For good reason, we often say ignorance is bliss. But despite all of the suffering that consciousness can bring, life is worth living.”
Masterfully executed, Fifteen Dogs poses the audience with many questions about the human condition and is not one to miss.