Soho Theatre and ATC Join For IVAN AND THE DOGS, Tour Begins Sept 29

ATC and SOHO THEATRE present IVAN AND THE DOGS By Hattie Naylor, Directed by Ellen McDougall, Designer Naomi Wilkinson with Lighting Designer Katharine Williams

UK TOUR AND SOHO THEATRE

"All the money went and there was nothing to buy food with. So Mothers and Fathers tried to find things they could get rid of, things that ate, things that drank or things that needed to be kept warm. The dogs went first".

This autumn the equally acclaimed ATC and Soho Theatre join forces to present this extraordinary true story of endurance and friendship. In the poverty stricken Moscow of the early 1990s, 4 year old Ivan Mishukov walked out of his apartment one day and ended up spending two years on the streets, adopted by a pack of dogs who kept him safe. Ivan and the Dogs is a spellbinding tale of survival and co-dependence in a hostile environment; an environment where the petty cruelties that man visits upon his fellow man are contrasted with the innocence and cohesion of a child and his canine protectors. Ivan and his dogs are on the outside of the outside living a feral existence sustained only by their friendship and mutual support.

ATC's first production following the departure of Bijan Sheibani as artistic director continues to celebrate contemporary new playwriting with an international focus alongside its commitment to presenting work to regional audiences. Soho Theatre is one of London's busiest and most diverse producing theatres, with a strong reputation for discovering and nurturing new writers. Ivan and The Dogs was discovered through their in-house script reading service, it then received development at Bristol Old Vic. Soho Theatre is delighted to have formed this partnership with ATC to bring Hattie Naylor's work to the stage.

Ivan and the Dogs is directed by ATC's Artistic Associate Ellen McDougall who, until recently, was Staff Director at the National Theatre, assisting Bijan Sheibani on Our Class, Katie Mitchell on Cat in a Hat and MariAnne Elliott on Women Beware Women. During this time she also developed work at the NT Studio including a multi-media workshop with writer Michael Bhim, a devised piece about St. Kilda which is has been given a scratch performance at The Arches, Glasgow, and various readings. Her directing credits include The Invisible Woman by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (work-in-progress, ATC/YoungVic), two short new plays in Tri-Umph, (Oxford Playhouse), London Lite (reading, Soho Theatre), Betting On The Dust Commander by Suzan-Lori Parks (Albany Theatre Studio, UK Premiere), Philadelphia Here I Come! by Brian Friel and Cymbeline (Bedlam Theatre Company). She has been a workshop leader for the Young Vic, ATC and the National Theatre. Assistant director credits include The Brothers Size (ATC/Young Vic) and Tunnel 228 (Punchdrunk). Ellen was awarded the Runner-Up Prize in the James Menzies-Kitchin Award 2008 and directed a workshop on A Kind of Alaska by Harold Pinter at BAC. She completed the National Theatre Studio Directors Course in 2008, where she was Director in Residence in 2009. Most recently she completed the Directors Lab 2010 at the Lincoln Center in New York.

Tour Dates

September 29 to October 2 Drum Theatre Plymouth - 7.45pm

October 8 to 9 North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford - 8pm

October 12 to November 6 Soho Theatre, London - 7.30pm and 9.00pm*
*w/c Nov 1 Nov 9.00pm start instead of 7.30pm

November 16 to 20 November Bristol Old Vic - 8pm

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