It's so caustic," marvels Gerald LaBita about John Patrick Shanley's Four Dogs and a Bone.

LaBita, producing director of Theater LaB Houston, is mounting Shanley's satire about Hollywood, through Feb. 15.

Four Dogs and a Bone had its premiere in 1993 at the Manhattan Theatre Club. The play, with characters ranging from a desperate, middle-aged producer to a scheming diva, a naive young writer and a seemingly guileless ingenue, skewers the magic of the movies.

"It really takes the veneer off 'beautiful people,'" says LaBita. "The general public tends to believe that in Hollywood everything is perfect. Actually, a lot of backstabbing goes on."

A far, cynical cry from Shanley's heartwarming script for Moonstruck, winner of the 1987 Academy Award for screenwriting, Four Dogs and a Bone is more 'situation driven' than 'plot driven.' "It's all about the internal machinations of the ego-laden," says LaBita. Four Dogs and a Bone runs through Feb. 15 at Theater LaB Houston. For tickets, $18, call (713) 868-7516.

-- By Peter Szatmary
Texas Correspondent