Doughbar: New Place for Pizza and Chicken on South Side: ‘Dance Nation’ Online at Pgh Playhouse (Sat., 5/1/21)

1) Plenty of artists have parodied Grant Wood’s American Gothic, but the parody painted at Doughbar, which features the woman as a pizza head and the man as a chicken head, gets to the heart of this restaurant—chicken and pizza. Patrons can purchase a half bird or a whole bird slow roasted on a rotisserie. Complementing the chicken are sauces like truffle ranch, pan gravy and red chimichurri.  , And the selection of sides include rotisserie-seasoned fries and mashed potatoes. The chicken comes from Gerber’s Amish Farms—no antibiotics, no hormones. Doughbar’s pizza is served in several different styles: New York, Margherita, and even a two-day pan with dough risen 48 hours for thickness. Topping choices count into the double digits from onion to meatballs. The restaurant also serves salads and hoagies. Some of the starter items are chicken gravy fries (pulled rotisserie chicken, fresh mozzarella, gravy, and herbs) and garlic herb breadsticks. To drink are five-dollar craft drafts plus cocktails and wine. 1831 E. Carson St., South Side. (CM)

2) At the Pittsburgh Playhouse the Point Park Conservatory Theatre company is producing a wacky play about a team of preteen and young-teen girls entering a dance competition. Clare Barron’s Dance Nation was a finalist for 2019’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama. There just may be method (and even meaning!) behind the looniness. Playwright Barron is fascinated by the teenaged psyche, which can offer an uncensored view of the human condition: It’s teeming with drives and ideas that get muted down in adulthood. An earlier Barron play, the bizarre I’ll Never Love Again, had actors in choir robes singing passionate lines from Barron’s own teen diaries. Dance Nation goes psycho-nuclear in a different way. The young women on the dance team wrangle with every extreme emotion imaginable while hoping to win the Boogie Down Grand Prix with a routine about Mohandas Gandhi. The play includes dance moms and time travel, and casting isn’t always age-appropriate—the New York production had one teen played by an actor in her 60s. The Playhouse’s cast includes: Emily Botnen, Ivan Bracy Jr., Rae Dastoor, and Isabella Duran-Shedd and is directed by Kelly Trumbull. Available online through May 2. (MV)

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