The Dog Project

The Dog Project

Created by Mandy Fox and the MFA Acting Class of 2025
In Partnership with Canine Companions, Pet Partners of Central Ohio, and Ohio Prison Dog Coalition

The performance runs 90 minutes without intermission.

Cast

Owen
Jalen Carr

Evie, Dog, Guard
Shannon McCarren

Logan, Tank
Francis Miller

David, Henry
Christopher Quiroz

Lenny, Rex
Joshua Smith

Sal
Noah Bennett

Naomi
Paitton Lewis

Charlotte, Kazu
Angelina Steshenko

Understudies

Logan & Charlotte
Hailee Franklin

Sal & David
Josh Mink

Evie & Naomi
Sophie O'Leary

Owen & Lenny
Asher Pellegrini

The use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited. Please silence your cell phones and pagers prior to the beginning of the performance. In consideration of those seated around you, please refrain from texting during the performance.

Noah Bennett (Sal), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Jacksonville, FL
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Wilderness; Blood Wedding; MFA Solo Festival

Jalen Carr (Owen), graduate student
Hometown: Houston, TX
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Wilderness; Blood Wedding; MFA Solo Festival; August Wilson's Seven Guitars

Paitton Lewis (Naomi), graduate student
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Soldotna, AK
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Everybody; Blood Wedding; MFA Solo Festival

Shannon McCarren (Evie), graduate student
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Butler, PA
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Wilderness; Blood Wedding; MFA Solo Festival

Alexis Miller (costume designer), graduate student
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Frisco, TX
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Francis Miller (Logan/Tank; theatrical intimacy choreographer), graduate student
Pronouns: they/them
Hometown: Sandpoint, ID
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Everybody; Blood Wedding; MFA Solo Festival

Josh Mink (David/Sal understudy), sophomore
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Shaker Heights, OH
Major(s): moving-image production; Spanish
Minor(s): screenwriting; theatre
Department Productions: She Kills Monsters; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Sophie O'Leary (Evie/Naomi understudy), sophomore
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Major(s): music; theatre
Department Productions: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; The Moors

Chris Quiroz (David), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: New York, NY
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Everybody; Blood Wedding; MFA Solo Festival

Joshua Smith (Lennie/Rex), graduate student
Pronouns: he/him
Hometown: Gresham, OR
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Everybody; Blood Wedding; MFA Solo Festival

Angelina Steshenko (Charlotte/Kazu), graduate student
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Wilderness; Blood Wedding; MFA Solo Festival

Megan Wells (scenic & properties designer), graduate student
Pronouns: she/her
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: August Wilson's Seven Guitars; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

The opening of a door, the pressing of a button, hearing the sound of a tea kettle; we often take the simplest things for granted. Able-bodied folks can move through the world with relative ease, mounting staircases and retrieving necessary medications without registering the effort. This independence can feel inherent and permanent, a never-changing factor in the rhythm of our lives. This is simply not the case for a gigantic portion of our population. People with disabilities is the largest minority group in the United States, with almost 20% of the population living with a disability, and this membership often comes with limitations in independence.

Elsewhere, many citizens find themselves in an in-between place; not quite disabled, but in need of assistance and support with activities of daily living. This can be a calming presence, a warm weight, a calm and easy exhale. This consistent and subtle presence can offer those unsettled by terror or illness a sense of peace, focus, or calm. The presence of a dog can change a life.

The Master of Fine Arts in Acting Class of 2025 with Professor Mandy Fox has partnered with Canine Companions, The Ohio Prison Dog Coalition and Pet Partners of Central Ohio to create this piece of theatre to speak for and advocate on behalf of those with disabilities who utilize working dogs to live move independent lives. In disability advocacy work, there is an oft-repeated phrase of “Nothing about us, without us”, and this partnering with these community organizations offer us an opportunity to embody this phrase in an authentic and honest way. By partnering with these groups, we have had the incredible privilege to work directly with those impacted by unjust or incomplete systems and legislation, and to attempt to use our work as artists to serve those who utilize the care that dog-assisted intervention provides. We are incredibly fortunate to present The Dog Project, in the hopes that this small work will further the work of these incredible community organizations.

Support Ohio State Theatre

The Dog Project

The Dog Project

The Dog Project

Cast

Understudies

PRODUCTION TEAM

PRODUCTION CREW

STUDENT CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

PRODUCTION NOTE

AFTERWORDS

UP NEXT AT OHIO STATE THEATRE

CONTENT ADVISORY (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)