Fifteen Dogs

Jan 10, 2023 - Feb 12, 2023
Guloien Theatre

You can’t know what a life has been until it is over.

Fifteen Dogs, André Alexis

Is it possible to die happy?

That is the question the gods Hermes and Apollo ponder over a beer at the Wheatsheaf Tavern in Toronto. They make a bet, grant 15 dogs human consciousness, and watch from above as the pups discover the poetry and the pitfalls of complex thought and emotion.

In this modern-day fable of fate, faith, love, and language, the pack must reckon with morality and mortality and the profound relationships they share with humans.   

Adapter and director Marie Farsi directed the wildly successful Ghost Quartet in 2019 for Crow’s Theatre, where she was Associate Artistic Director for two seasons. Marie is an award-winning theatre maker and film director primarily focused on the creation of new work. She has worked with exciting and innovative companies across Canada including Rumble Theatre, Théâtre La Seizième, Porte-Parole, Stratford Festival, Bard on the Beach, Arts Club in Vancouver, and Crow’s Theatre.

André Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. Fifteen Dogs, a global bestseller by the beloved Toronto writer, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and Canada Reads. André’s most recent novel is Ring. His other books include Days by Moonlight which won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, Asylum, Pastoral, The Hidden Keys, and The Night Piece: Collected Stories. André is the recipient of the prestigious American Windham Campbell Prize for literary achievement. 

FIFTEEN DOGS is the first play created by the new Crow’s Theatre Canadian Literature Adaptation Fund, supported by The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation. The Canadian Literature Adaptation Fund brings the work of Canadian fiction and non-fiction authors to the stage by optioning, commissioning, developing, and producing dramatic adaptations.

FIFTEEN DOGS Production Sponsors: The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation, The Scott Griffin Foundation, Bob & Martie Sachs.


Artistic Team

Laura Condlln

Performer

Peter Fernandes

Performer

Stephen Jackman-Torkoff

Performer

Tom Rooney

Performer

Tyrone Savage

Performer

Mirabella Sundar Singh

Performer

Marie Farsi

Adapter and Director

André Alexis

Author

Julie Fox

Set, Props, and Costume Designer

Kimberly Purtell

Lighting Designer

David Mesiha

Music and Sound Designer

Sim Suzer

Costume Design Associate

Imogen Wilson

Lighting Design Assistant

Lisa Nighswander

Head of Props

Jeff Hanson

Fight Director

Andrew Dollar

Stage Manager

Angela Mae Bago

Assistant Stage Manager

Sponsors

Hilary & Galen Weston Foundation logo