text Hattie Naylor
translation Monica Capuani
russain recorded voice Laura Pasut Rosellini
light design Simona Gallo
scenograph Paola Villani
costum Simona D’Amico
direction assistant Elvira Berarducci
performer, sound design and direction Federica Rosellini
management Vittorio Stasi
production Cardellino srl
thanks to Trac centro di residenza teatrale / Factory compagnia
representative rights Agenzia Danesi Tolnay
general direction Maria Laura Rondanini

Ivan and the Dogs originates from the account of an episode experienced by Ivan at the age of four, evoked as if it were happening in the present. The narrative takes the form of a dark fairy tale, yet the story is real, set in early 1990s Russia—a period marked by the extreme poverty of the Boris Yeltsin era. Ivan lives with his mother and a violent man who wants to get rid of him. And so, Ivan leaves. On the streets of Moscow, the cold and the lack of mercy make survival nearly impossible, but his encounter with a pack of stray dogs that welcomes and protects him becomes his salvation.

Hattie Naylor’s text, an Olivier Award nominee performed in numerous countries, takes shape on stage as a solo by Federica Rosellini. Alone with her electronic equipment, she composes live, intertwining her own mother’s voice recorded in Russian with melodies, lullabies, and rhythmic pulses; with her fingers, she traces the sound score in which she loses herself through words and body. The result is an intimate and desperate performance that unexpectedly manages to recount the childhood of us all.