Market Garden Theatre To Produce Eric Coble's MY BARKING DOG

Market Garden Theatre kicks off 2018 with the Minnesota premiere of My Barking Dog by Eric Coble, a dynamic and thought-provoking piece on our role within nature and its role in us. Directed by Market Garden Theatre's Artistic Director, Lucas Skjaret, My Barking Dog will play April 20 - 29 at the Crane Theater's studio space in NE Minneapolis.

Cerebral, witty, and ultimately nearing the absurd, My Barking Dog asks where we go when we let our instincts take over. The story focuses on two solitary city-dwellers, Melinda, played by Victoria Pyan, and Toby, played by Mike Swan, who are brought together by the appearance of a coyote. This wild encounter leads them on a poetic journey of self-realization, with their newly discovered animal instincts leading the way. My Barking Dog is a blend of magical realism and lyrical storytelling that explores how our everyday lives have been disconnected from our roots.

My Barking Dog enjoyed its world premiere at the Cleveland Public Theatre in May 2011. Since then, it has seen productions at The Theatre @ Boston Court, Urbanite Theatre, Convergence-Continuum Theatre, and Rabbit Hole Theatre. The News Herald called My Barking Dog "...a truly magnificent piece of work... as funny as it is thought-provoking, and as imaginative as it is relevant" While the Los Angeles Times said "GO! At various moments poetic, funny, gripping and stomach-churning, and sometimes all these things together."

Eric Coble is an award-winning playwright, born in Edinburgh, Scotland and raised on the Navajo and Ute reservations in New Mexico and Colorado. His plays, including Velocity of Autumn, which premiered on Broadway at the Booth Theatre and was nominated for a Tony award, Bright Ideas, Southern Rapture, Fairfield, My Barking Dog, and The Giver, have been produced in all 50 states and on four continents.

Victoria Pyan (Melinda) is a Twin Cities regular and has been seen with Frank Theatre, Oncoming Productions, Freshwater Theatre, Theatre Cosmic, Pro Rata, Mission Theatre Company, and Theatre Unbound. She is a co-founder and Executive Director of Little Lifeboats, a theatre company based in the Twin Cities focused on on amplifying underrepresented voices.

Mike Swan (Toby) has been seen on-stage with Girl Friday Productions, Artistry, DalekoArts, Theatre in the Round, and Commonweal Theatre Company, where he was a company member for two years. A New Jersey native, Mike is now a Twin Cities-based actor and works with the National Theatre for Children.

The creative team of My Barking Dog includes: Leazah Behrens (Scenic Designer), Jacob Lee Hofer (Lighting Designer), Kassia Lisinski (Sound Designer), and Samson Perry (Stage Manager).

Market Garden Theatre was founded in 2013 by a group of passionate theatre artists whose mission is to produce quality storytelling through creative innovation, dedicated professionalism, and respected collaboration. Deriving its name from two vital human traditions: the market, the place where persons of all backgrounds come together to exchange goods and ideas, and the garden, the place for growing produce to nurture body and soul, Market Garden Theatre strives to fulfill its namesake by taking pride in telling all stories.

Melinda and Toby, two recluses of an apartment in some urban American sprawl, meet a coyote who mysteriously visits their fire escape one night. This wild encounter leads them on a poetic journey of self-realization, with their newly discovered animal instincts leading the way. My Barking Dog is a blend of magical realism and lyrical storytelling that explores how our everyday lives have been disconnected from our roots.

Contains mature themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

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