The Strange, Full Dream of Dog & Pony

Since 2003, Dog & Pony Theatre Co.'s lyrical, thoroughly conceived productions have earned them steadily more recognition and audiences around Chicago. The company, dedicated to Chicago premieres of new plays, is marked by a desire to create what Artistic Director Krissy Vanderwarker describes as "full evenings of theater"—plays that remind audiences of the intimacy of live theater and that include the entire environment of playgoing. So, while many theater companies originate as a group of actors in search of a stage, or a director looking for control, Dog & Pony is uniquely composed of theater artists of all stripes—designers, directors, writers, actors, a dancer, even a former radio host. Says Ms. Vanderwarker, "Our artists come from diverse backgrounds, artistically and culturally, and that helps us make theater that's accessible to a wide group of people. The notion of an ensemble just of actors gives short-shrift to the diversity of artists involved."

In a media age in which audiences are bombarded with film and television, Ms. Vanderwarker acknowledges that the activity required to seek out theater means the stakes are high to create excellence and capture new audiences, "We want to push the art form so people come back, so that it is relevant and important and attracts people. We want someone to be able to say 'I don't like theater, but I loved this.'"

Currently, Dog & Pony is one of many homeless theater companies in Chicago, performing where their imaginations take them and their budgets permit. Though this artistic listlessness may reflect well the dreamlike scripts and settings preferred by this company, their ambitions are grand. "We see ourselves one day as the cornerstone of a stable community center, with all kinds of opportunities available: health, education, art galleries, performances, and discussion." Associate Artistic Director Devon De Mayo adds that they’d like to be able to commission more new work and continue their mission to provide dynamically diverse and thoughtful theater for everyone, "We'd love to be able to say just, What's making your brain explode right now? Great: create that."

When Dog & Pony was founded, an initial goal was to occupy a vacancy in the theatrical landscape of Chicago: the production of new work. Since 2003, more companies have appeared with a similar mission, but Ms. Vanderwarker sees this as "only good news. More people doing more new work is important." Of course, none of these other companies have succeeded in replicating the success or the specificity of style that Dog & Pony has enjoyed. What is this style? Ms. De Mayo finds the Dog & Pony air easy to identify but difficult to describe, "A Dog & Pony show is like a dream, but not a pretty dream. An amazing and…strange dream." And indeed, if all our dreams were as literate or as wrought with the open-eyed poetry of plays like those of company member Sheila Callaghan or Jenny Schwartz, it would be amazing. In the meantime there's Dog & Pony. (http://www.dogandponychicago.org)

Benno Nelson