by AMY BARRATT

Thomas Wolfe wrote that you can't go home again, but Jason Whiting is giving it a try. After a year-and-a-half stint as a critic, he's back working in theatre. Whiting, who's listed as director on Renegade's Jennydog, opening tonight, Feb. 12, says so far he hasn't run into much resentment among his peers over things he may have said in print. "I've always wanted to work with people who can take criticism well," he says, "so apart from having to pay for theatre again, the transition has been fine."

Whiting sounds tired - the heavy rehearsal schedule, no doubt - but upbeat about working with one of the up-and-coming English companies in the city.

Winners of a MECCA for Revelation of the 2002–03 season, Renegade has attracted critical approval but tiny audiences to their past shows at the primarily dance space Studio 303. For Jennydog, a previously unproduced piece by Harry Standjofski, they're moving to a space more familiar to theatregoers, Geordie Space. They are also, as company co-founder Manuel Verreydt puts it, "raising the bar" for this show in an effort not to disappoint Standjofski, a former teacher (at Concordia) of many of the cast members.

A graduate of the Concordia theatre program himself, Standjofski has been a fixture on the Montreal theatre scene for more than two decades, but his many plays, including Anton, No Cycle, Dick and Atreus, have been under-produced. Thanks perhaps to his contact with students, that may be changing. He wrote a play for the theatre department called An Unlucky Man, and No Cycle was produced by a young company at last year's Fringe. Standjofski wrote Jennydog some years ago, and did some revisions before giving the script to Renegade, but has not been involved in rehearsals.

Despite having no money to pay people, both Verreydt and Whiting feel they've put together a really strong company. "It helps having a great script," Whiting says. In most cases, as soon as people had read the script, they were onboard.

Asked what the play is about, Whiting has an easier time saying what it's not: "It's not kitchen sink. It's not sitting-around-a-table-in-rural-Canada." It is an urban story about twentysomething people who can't communicate. Verreydt plays a "rich kid who's not amounting to much" and Jeanne Bowser plays his girlfriend, a resident at a local hospital. Renegade co-founder Jory Berger plays the dog. The couple's money troubles and a visit from his father contribute to the pressure that builds over the course of a hot Montreal summer.

"It's funny and smart and sad," says Whiting. "All those things that theatre should be."

The concept for the production is definitely non-realistic, with little in the way of set or even props. "We're doing a lot with light," says Whiting.

Despite his directing credit, Whiting is quick to say that Jennydog is really a collective project. "Some of the best directing ideas have come from the cast. I'm more of a facilitator."

Working as a theatre critic, Whiting says, gave him an appreciation for the work that several young English companies have been doing in the city. "It's ego-less theatre. It's just about doing the best possible show you can. That's something I want to be involved in."

JENNYDOG, FEB. 12–15 and 19–22 AT 8PM, MATINéES SUNDAYS AT 3PM AT GEORDIE SPACE (4001 BERRI), $10–$14, 285-2702

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