Ivan’s story is one of dogged, human perseverance
We’ve all heard our share of shaggy dog stories.
With the inaugural offering from his new company Tin Man Theatre, Kelly Reay is going to tell us a shaggy human story in Ivan and the Dogs.
It’s a true one, at that. Back in 1996 at age four, Ivan Mishukov left his abusive Russian home to wander the streets of Reutov. He befriended a pack of feral dogs by stealing food for them.
They in turn protected him and eventually made him a member of the pack.
“Like the dogs, Ivan had an amazing survival instinct,” says Reay, who founded and guided Sage Theatre for more than a decade and now works with the High Performance Rodeo. "He didn’t just join the pack immediately. He had to gain their trust and when he did, he lived in their den for two years.
Ivan adopted many canine characteristics. We meet the boy when he is older and he’s telling us about that time in his life.
“When he was reintegrated into society at age six, he quickly relearned to speak, which shows what an extraordinary person he is.”
There have been several versions of Ivan’s story, ranging from novels and documentaries to a radio play, and now this stage version by Hat- tie Naylor. It received its première in London in 2010.
It’s a play for a solo performer, which is why Reay chose it to showcase his wife, actor Nicola Elson.
"I’m always reading scripts, but when Nicola and I decided we wanted to work on together, I zeroed in on Ivan and the Dogs which I first read a couple of years ago.
"Both Nicola and I are real dog lovers, so this story resonated with us immediately.
“It shows how there can be genuine friendship between humans and dogs, which is something I’ve known all my life,” says Reay, who explains he was “raised on a farm, so there were always outside dogs on the property.
“When I moved to the city, I really missed the dogs and could hardly wait to get one again.”
Reay says the opening lines of the play explain that because there was a serious recession in Russia in the 1990s, people looked for things to unload. Since dogs ate food, they were the first to go. Children were often the next to be cast into the streets.
Reay says even if people know the basic story of Ivan Mishukov, this play explains what brought Ivan to the streets and tells how he met the dogs.
It explains how he gained their trust and how he and they escaped the police who were determined to catch this feral child.
Finally, the play shows how Ivan was reintegrated into society and what that meant to him.
Reay says Ivan and the Dogs should appeal particularly to dog lovers because it underlines “the connection that can be forged between humans and animals.”
Ivan and the Dogs will run in the Arts Commons Motel Theatre May 4 to 6 and again May 11 to 13 nightly at 7:30.
Tickets are $20 at the door. Reay says not to expect bells and whistles.
“This is an economical production. We want to let the playwright’s words do the work for us. There will be no images and sounds of dogs. It’s a memory play. It’s Ivan’s memory.”
Though both Reay and Elson work in the Calgary theatre community, this is the first time he has directed his wife.
"We didn’t know how the process was going to go, but we knew we already had a short hand when it came to communicating.
“We were able to have really frank discussions early in the rehearsal process, and that is not always the case when a director doesn’t know his actors.”