Details

P. D. Eastman’s classic children’s book comes to life on stage in an exploration of movement, color, and music. The dogs delve into life with gusto, creating a visual spectacle for the audience to feast upon. They snorkel. They howl at the moon. They ride a Ferris Wheel. They sing and dance and climb trees. The play’s bustle and commotion pauses every so often for a moment or two of reflection, and then sweeps us again into the whirlwind of these lovable and goofy dogs.

 “This play is adapted from a book renowned for its ability to generate fun, learning, adventure and surprise with a minimum of text. It honors the joyous simplicity of the world around us. Therefore, in the making of this play, it is not our intention to “fill out” or “open up” the story in the style of many traditional adaptations. “Expanding the book” in this way would, we believe, rob it of its essential wondrous and loopy anarchy. Instead, we hope to celebrate and explore the existing words and pictures; to look not “outside the book,” but more closely “within it” – in the way that a child can page through Mr. Eastman’s book night after night and find something remarkable and new with each subsequent reading. We have chosen, therefore, to play inside the story – to explore the buckets of bliss, wonder, longing and discovery that are waiting for us, for all of us, there.” -Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz

“This was one of our all-time favorite plays to produce, and one that our audiences most requested we bring back,” says SCT Artistic Director Linda Hartzell. “We’ve taken a simple, straightforward picture book and made it sing, dance, play ball, and truly come alive. Just wait until you see your child on their feet, leaning forward, riveted by this group of colorful dogs.”

When SCT originally commissioned Gregory and Dietz to adapt Eastman’s classic, Gregory said, “We looked at why kids love it so much, and I think it’s the simplicity, and the fact that it operates in the way kids’ minds do, just leaping from image to image, with no big transitions.” Dietz and Gregory have taken this simple story and pumped it up with music and stage shenanigans while remaining faithful to the original.  Go, Dog. Go! was very much a labor of love for Gregory and Dietz. During a recent meet-and-greet with the cast, crew and staff at SCT, Dietz recalled that Hartzell brought a copy of the book to their daughter, then aged three. “She’s not three anymore. Those days are past,” Dietz said. “But, coming back here to do this show is a chance to return to the essence of that time, the discovery and wonder.”

Location
Eve Alvord Theatre

Age Recommendation
For Ages 4+

Performances

This production has past.

“Highly imaginative…hilarious”

jeff bond (queen anne news)

More Info

Cast and Design Team

This production returns two actors and a musician from the original cast, with Basil Harris (last seen at SCT in Glittra’s Mission), Tim Hyland (a long-time SCT veteran last seen in 2009’s Pharaoh Serket and the Lost Stone of Fire) and musician and Music Director Rob Witmer reprising their roles from 2003. Joining them are Carter Davis (first SCT production), Hana Lass (Pharaoh Serket and the Lost Stone of FireBluenose), Angie Louise (Perô) and Vickielee Wohlbach (Goodnight Moon). Khanh Doan and Chris Ensweiler understudy.

The cast is supported by an excellent production team, with Scenic Designer Michael Sommers, Costume Designer Frances Kenny and Lighting Designer Greg Sullivan joining  Director Dietz, Choreographer Gregory and Music Director Witmer.

Synopsis

P. D. Eastman’s classic children’s book comes to life on stage in an exploration of movement, color, and music. The dogs delve into life with gusto, creating a visual spectacle for the audience to feast upon. They snorkel. They howl at the moon. They ride a Ferris Wheel. They sing and dance and climb trees. The play’s bustle and commotion pauses every so often for a moment or two of reflection, and then sweeps us again into the whirlwind of these lovable and goofy dogs.