
WATCHDOG
WATCHDOG
A psycho thriller doppelgänger musical
at ANTFest, Ars Nova 2025
Director: Mack Brown
Music/Lyrics: Murphy Taylor Smith
Book: Emerson Mae Smith
Associate Director: L.D. Kelley
Producer: Devon Jude Kish
Music Director: Katie James Rushin
Arrangements: Adam J Rineer
Production Assistant & Sound Design: Mirit Skeen
Lighting Design: Matt Lazarus
Photos: Geve Penaflor
Two identical women – unrelated and unknown to each other – meet by chance. As their lives circle each other (and the drain), memories mutate, identities blur, and co-dependency turns to cross-contamination. Written by and starring Emerson and Murphy Smith, identical twin transgender women, WATCHDOG is a razor-sharp black comedy and a psychological thriller like Single White Female meets Persona with a sprinkling of Fiona Apple.