“He sits in the middle of her room, dizzy and weirded out. He stares at her. Neither of them knows what to do with the other. This goes on for a number of days until the man’s mother takes action. She decides to love him.”
This is a story about a dog. It is also a story about love, and abandonment, and hope. About anger, and bitterness, and whether the fish are coming back. About guilt and shame and pride. But mostly, it is a story about a dog.
Vivienne Franzmann’s beautiful and haunting The Man, the Man’s Mother, and the Dog is a return to classic fireside storytelling. Plug in and immerse yourself in the dark magic of this story of a dog’s life. Don’t worry. The dog lives.
Written by Vivienne Franzmann
Read by Amber James
Directed by Jennifer Bakst
Sound, Music and Editing by Max Pappenheim
CONTENT WARNING – This audio drama contains violent imagery and some upsetting scenes.
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Vivienne Franzmann’s theatre credits include The IT (Connections, National Theatre), Bodies, Open Court, The Witness(Royal Court Theatre), The Snow Queen (Bristol Old Vic), The Most Horrific Theatre Uncut (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/UK tour), Pests, (Royal Court Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre), Sounds Like An Insult (UK tour), Scars (international tour) andMogadishu (Royal Exchange Theatre/Lyric Hammersmith).
Amber James’s theatre credits include Snowflake (Kiln Theatre), Vassa (Almeida Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire (ETT), Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus and Dido, Queen of Carthage (RSC), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare’s Globe & International tour), Much Ado About Nothing (Queen’s Theatre) and The Gathered Leaves (Park Theatre). For television, her work includes Doc Martin and Ransom.
Creative Associate at English Touring Theatre Jennifer Bakst is a director and dramaturg. She was previously New Work Associate at Kiln Theatre. Her theatre credits as a director include Dear Future Generation (Kiln Theatre Young Company), Armstrong’s War (Finborough Theatre) and theatre work with young prisoners for the Synergy Theatre Project. Her credits as an associate director include Handbagged (Kiln Theatre/59E59 New York) and The Great Wave (National Theatre)
Max Pappenheim‘s theatre includes The Night of the Iguana (West End); The Way of the World (Donmar); The Children (Royal Court/Broadway); Waiting for Godot (Sheffield Crucible); Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dry Powder, Sex with Strangers, Labyrinth (Hampstead); Ophelias Zimmer (Schaubühne, Berlin/Royal Court); Crooked Dances (Royal Shakespeare Company); One Night in Miami (Nottingham Playhouse); Hogarth’s Progress (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Ridiculous Darkness (Gate Theatre); The Gaul (Hull Truck); A Kettle of Fish(Yard Theatre); CommonWealth (Almeida); Creve Coeur (Print Room); Switzerland, Spamalot, The Glass Menagerie (English Theatre of Frankfurt); Mrs Lowry and Son(Trafalgar Studios); My Cousin Rachel, The Habit of Art, Monogamy, Teddy, Toast, Fabric, Invincible (National Tours). Opera includes Miranda (Opéra Comique, Paris); Scraww (Trebah Gardens); Vixen (Vaults/International Tour); Carmen: Remastered (ROH/Barbican). Radio includes Home Front (BBC Radio 4). Associate Artist of The Faction and Silent Opera.