Sometimes, help arrives unexpectedly when we most need it. That’s what happens to Liz, a fiercely independent New Yorker, in “Dog Mom,” a new play that begins previews June 24 and opens June 26 at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota.
“It's about a woman who is going through a divorce, and she finds a stray dog she does not want but ends up fostering,” said Rebecca Hopkins, Florida Studio Theatre’s executive director. “She gives the dog a home and a second chance, but the dog gives her a second chance and their bond in the city.”
The heartfelt new comedy comes from writer, producer and filmmaker Tate Elizabeth Hanyok.
“We did it last year in the Burdick Reading Festival, and it was a runaway,” Hopkins noted. “That audience just loved it. So we're doing the world premiere this summer.”
Katharine McLeod returns to FST to play Liz, with actor Kelsey Leigh Stalter portraying Liz’s newfound best friend, the dog … and proving once again that while dogs may not be our whole life, they can make our lives whole.
“Dog Mom” runs through July 26 in the Keating Theatre.
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Equal parts comedy and heart, "Dog Mom" explores connection, resilience and the transformative bond between people and their pets. What begins as an unwanted responsibility quickly becomes an unexpected journey filled with laughter, friendship, and the discovery that family sometimes arrives in the most surprising ways.
Florida Studio Theatre Associate Artist and Literary Manager Nancy Rominger directs “Dog Mom.” She joined FST in 2024 after serving for 12 seasons at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival as associate artistic director and director of the Southern Writers' Project, where she oversaw the development of dozens of new plays and musicals. Her FST directing credits include “Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk,” “Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground,” “Don't Dress for Dinner,” “Shedding a Skin” and “Advice.”
"Tate has created characters who are funny, flawed, and deeply human," said Rominger.
"At its heart, ‘Dog Mom’ is about opening yourself to connection, even when life doesn't go according to plan. Audiences will laugh a lot, but they'll also recognize pieces of themselves in these relationships."
Joining McLeod and Stalter in the cast are Ryan G. Dunkin as Ruben, Marina Re as Nell, with Kraig Swartz serving as swing for the production.
The creative team includes Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay (scenic design), Madison Queen (costume design), Kate Landry (lighting design), Nicholas Christensen (sound design), Brianna McVaugh (fight choreography), Shira Lebovich (stage manager), and Kate Johnson (stage management intern).
“Dog Mom” marks another exciting chapter in FST's commitment to developing and producing new American plays.
“Dog Mom” is part of FST's Summer Mainstage Series, which also includes “Honky Tonk Angels” and “The Last Romance.”
For tickets, visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org or telephone 941-366-9000.
This dog is human
For “Dog Mom,” the playwright chose to have an actress play the part of the dog.
“Because the dog is played by an actress, to me, [the play] hearkens back to ‘Sylvie,’” said Hopkins, referencing the A.R. Gurney play about a dog and the couple who adopts her. “So, you really get the dog point of view in it.”
While this play does not include an actual canine, Florida Studio Theatre has cast real dogs in other productions.
“We’ve done that twice,” Hopkins noted. “We did ‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore,’ which had a real cat in it. And then when we did ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.’ For that, we had three different dogs because the dogs kept growing up during the run and it’s supposed to be a puppy, a golden retriever.”
Hopkins noted that the theater still gets pictures from the dogs’ owners.
“Anything that has dogs or pets in it always resonates with people,” said Hopkins. “Many people have had experience with a pet they loved and [shows that feature cats, dogs and other pets] brings out all those feelings we have for these four-legged creatures that add so much to our lives. Those relationships are as real to people as their interpersonal relationships. They become that real.”
Production history
An early draft of the play was featured in Florida Studio Theatre’s Burdick New Play Festival, with Rominger directing the script-in-hand reading.
“That experience proved instrumental in shaping the script,” said the playwright.
“Theatre is a live story laboratory, and the artists at FST helped reveal moments and relationships that ultimately became some of my favorites in the finished play. One of the greatest gifts of developing ‘Dog Mom’ for the stage was the opportunity to learn from audiences, actors, and fellow artists long before the play reached its world premiere," she said.
Following its reading at FST, “Dog Mom” continued its development through workshops at the Seven Devils Playwrights Foundry in Idaho before becoming part of the National New Play Network's Rolling World Premiere program.
The FST production joins a distinguished group of theatres across the country collaborating to introduce new American plays to audiences nationwide.
Hanyok's previous work includes the Hulu feature “Sex APPeal,” which she wrote and produced, as well as the Lifetime thriller “Friends Until the End,” which she directed. She also produced, adapted, and starred in “Love and Baseball,” released on HBO Max.
Most recently, she performed the role of the Dog in the play's world premiere production.
About Florida Studio Theatre
Florida Studio Theatre (FST) was founded in 1973. FST has grown to a village of five theatres located in the heart of downtown Sarasota. Each theatre is small in size and large in impact – providing intimate and engaging settings for high-quality, professional performances.
Today, FST is the largest subscription theatre in the state of Florida and among the largest in the country, serving more than 225,000 attendees each year across its diverse programs: Mainstage, Cabaret, Stage III, Children’s Theatre, Improv, The FST School, and New Play Development.
Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to as many people as possible. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Richard Hopkins, FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world. Hip and historical, entertaining and challenging, it is where everyone is welcome to engage in the art of theatre.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
