Origin Theatre Co Presents IVAN AND THE DOGS May 5

Origin Theatre Company presents Hattie Naylor's Olivier Award-nominated play "Ivan and the Dogs" in its American premiere, beginning Thursday May 5. Directed by David Sullivan, "Ivan and the Dogs" tells the true story of a four-year-old Moscow runaway's life underground with a pack of dogs. Starring Kevin Melendez as Ivan Mishukov, "Ivan and the Dogs" plays a limited 4-week engagement from Thursday May 5 through Saturday May 28, at The Players Loft Theatre, 115 Macdougal Street, with an opening on Thursday May 12 at 9pm.

The remarkable story of Ivan, a four-year-old who fled an abusive household and found sanctuary on the streets with a pack of wild dogs, is a true story ripped from the headlines. But as relived by the protagonist as a young man, "Ivan and the Dogs" unfolds like a fairytale in which the human world lacks humanity and the animal world has it in abundance. Like the best of Grimm's this gripping story, told with lyrical wistfulness by Naylor, has a mythic resonance.

In its review of the play last November, the Daily Telegraph noted, "Naylor's writing beautifully conveys the incredible way the boy and dogs connected to each other." Originally produced as a radio play for Radio 4 in England, "Ivan and the Dogs" was nominated for a 2011 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.

David Sullivan has directed Off-Broadway at the Irish Arts Center, Irish Repertory Theatre, and Center Stage/NY, and regionally at the Gloucester Stage Company, Boston Playwrights Theatre, and Powerhouse Theatre Workshop/New York Stage and Film. He served as assistant director to Nicholas Martin, artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Huntington Theatre Co.

"Ivan and the Dogs" twelve performances take place on four consecutive Thursday through Saturdays, May 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, all at 9pm. Tickets, which are $25, are available by phone at 212/352-3101 or online at www.theatermania.com

Naylor is the 40th European playwright to be given an American premiere by Origin Theatre Company since its founding in 2002. Origin also produces the annual 1st Irish Festival, this city's only all-Irish theatre festival, the fourth edition of which begins in September.

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