Round of A-paws! DOG MOM opens September 24th

Tate Elizabeth Hanyok playing DOG/FOSTER in the first NNPN Rolling World Premiere production at B Street Theatre in California. Pictured (l to r): Elizabeth Nunzito and Tate Elizabeth Hanyok. Photo by Lynnae Vana.

By Liv Wilson 

Liz is NOT a dog person. She’s a hardened New Yorker fresh off a divorce and in the middle of a crisis to reclaim her life. But when a scruffy stray pooch shows up on her doorstep, Liz is thrust into a new kind of identity crisis: accidental Dog Mom. Walk by walk, Liz discovers that sometimes the ones we save are the ones who might save us. 

A hilarious and heartwarming comedy, DOG MOM is being produced at Cadence as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere this fall. We spoke with some folks in the cast and on the creative team about their experience working on this canine-approved comedy.

Playwright Tate Elizabeth Hanyok originally wrote DOG MOM for a group of actors she came up with because she missed performing with them. “I thought, ‘Well, if I write us a play, maybe we can all get back onstage together.’” She never imagined that something she wrote for friends she loved and admired would be programmed across the country and, in the process, reunite acting friends she started out with. From those who crossed paths at VCU to pals from early professional production days, this play continues to foster connection and bring folks together within the acting community.

Hanyok first met director Rick St. Peter in her first professional production as an actor, The Taming of the Shrew, which St. Peter was directing at Barksdale. Incidentally, Robbie Winston, who plays Reuben in DOG MOM, was also featured in that production. As careers continued to grow, some people moved to Los Angeles and stayed close. Hanyok credits St. Peter with creating such a close-knit community when he directs a production that many stay life-long friends afterwards. Hanyok and St. Peter stayed in touch and then in 2024 Hanyok sent him an early draft of DOG MOM. The rest is history. 

For Hanyok, DOG MOM serves more than just one agenda. In addition to creating an opportunity for performers to take the stage together again, Hanyok was also driven to write a great role for the middle-life actresses in her circle. She notes, “The women I knew were funny and compelling and could break your heart. I wanted to create something my friends could audition for and bring exactly who they are to the role, as they are now.”

Hanyok was also prompted by how fraught and polarized the world can feel, and yet there’s one thing an awful lot of us seem to agree on: our furry friends are angels. Hanyok asserts, “They save us, connect us, and give complete strangers something to talk about. I loved the idea of celebrating that common ground.” 

Amidst the challenging world of non-profit theatre, Hanyok wanted to develop the kind of play someone might bring their neighbor to, something that could remind people how fun, communal, and even healing theater can be. DOG MOM has been breaking all kinds of box-office records. (The originating theater is even bringing it back next season because it was such a success.) Even better, theaters have been partnering with local rescue organizations around productions of the play. “The idea that the show can help spread the magic of rescue dogs while supporting the theaters producing it? I’m over the moon!,” says Hanyok.

Rehearsals coincidently began on National Dog Day, a magical start to this process. Rachel Marrs, who plays the protagonist Liz in this production, was a part of the reading at Cadence earlier this year. “There was a glow in the room during the reading that was incredible to witness. I felt a lot of encouragement and joy after that, and I feel a lot of joy to have the opportunity to put the show on its feet. I think the message of the show is universal for animal lovers.” 

Marrs notes how fun it is to be in the rehearsal room with this team. “Rick has assembled such a talented and cool group of people with awesome personalities who love to play and see what happens…The script is so clever and is full of little punch lines, and there is so much to laugh about when two of your castmates are literally playing dogs. But there are also a handful of gut punches, which are especially felt by Liz. It's really a great environment to be vulnerable and feel supported.”

Grey Garrett, who plays the role of Dog and Foster, calls the rehearsal room, “very fun and exploratory”. She says, “I always feel like my ideas are welcome and the cast feels very bonded.” Winston seconds this experience, noting how freeing it is to be playing a dog. He’s noticed how enlightening it’s been to attempt to live in the moment, chase one's joy, lose all opinion of one's self, and just be goofy. 

For St. Peter, every day it’s a new discovery in this room of talented, fearless artists. Early on, he likened the dogs to Shakespearean characters because they have no subtext. The dogs are always present and whatever their focus is on becomes the only thing in the world until they shift their focus to something else. Seeing actors start to find those moments has been amazing. 

Actors are also still playing with big character choices. St. Peter recalls director Anne Bogart’s quote, “One choice kills a thousand possibilities.” Eventually in a process one must start making choices but right now they are still comfortably situated in the land of possibilities. One actor, Jerold E. Solomon, plays a carousel of characters, one of which has so far been from Russia, Ukraine, Tennessee and a native New Yorker. St. Peter notes how fascinating it’s been to watch him play with different facets of that character and help guide where it might go.

We asked the team about their own relationship to furry friends outside of the play. St. Peter is a self-proclaimed Dog Dad. When all this started, he had the greatest Chocolate Lab in the world, named Harley Granville Barker St. Peter (AKA Harley Barker), who was his ride or die. He is now two weeks into his “younger dumber” (come see the play to find out why that is in quotes) three-month old Lab/Beagle mix called Kit Marlowe St. Peter and he is the sweetest boy. 

Hanyok hopes to come back in her next life as someone’s furry friend. “Every dog I pass, I'm convinced we're having a conversation and that we're best friends. I have a penchant for rescuing any orphaned little floof I find—from squirrels to possums. Each spring, I look after baby possums who've lost their mama. I get attached very quickly and tend to decide that they love me just as much, and forever, because that’s certainly how I feel about them!” Even though she is living in California now, Hanyok claims, “you can’t take the opossum out of the Virginian.”

Laine Satterfield, who plays Nell, Liz’s neighbor and a dog lover, believes, “Dogs are angels on earth and remind us to stay present, loving and non-judgmental.” She is a dog mom to sweet ten-year-old rescue, Nala, who brings her joy everyday and dog aunt to her parent's black lab, Jacqui. Satterfield particularly loves Nell's line in the play, "Look at that face. Dopamine hit right there,” perfectly describing how she feels about the fur babies in her life. 

Garrett notes, “I am both a cat and dog person. It is the purest love. The most honest of relationships. They see the most real, unmasked, versions of you and love you deeper for it.” Animals are “fosters” of joy.

Winston grew up with many, many animals: dogs, cats, guinea pigs, birds, fish, even rats. Dogs were always his favorite. Winston recalls, “I still have fond memories of Boomer (a pomeranian mix, possibly part lab) and a Yorkshire Terrier named Sweet Shot.” Now, he has a sweet Beagle mix at home named Ginger, who he is drawing a lot of inspiration from.

DOG MOM, written by Tate Elizabeth Hanyok and directed by Rick St. Peter, will run September 24-October 11 at the Carol Piersol Stage at Firehouse Theatre. DOG MOM is produced at Cadence as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Other partner theaters are B Street Theatre (Sacramento, California), Oregon Contemporary Theatre (Eugene, Oregon), Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota, Florida), and EnActe Arts (Sunnyvale, California). For more information, please visit nnpn.org.

We also have some special events scheduled during the run of the show. Following the 2 PM matinee on September 27th, playwright Tate Elizabeth Hanyok will join the cast and creative team for a post-show discussion. Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) and the Richmond SPCA will host post-show meet-and-greets and adoption events immediately following the 2 PM matinees. RACC will join us on October 3rd and 10th. The Richmond SPCA will join us on October 4th and 11th.

Bring a neighbor. Or someone you met at the dog park.  

Courtesy Photos:

1. Robbie Winston's dog, Ginger
2. Rachel's cat, Higgins
3. Grey's dog, Pasha
4. Rick's dog, Kit Marlowe St. Peter
5. Laine and her parents' dogs: Jacqui and Nala
6. A baby opossum that Tate healed