PROTOTYPE Festival | Dog Days: 15th Anniversary Concert

Composer: David T. Little
Librettist: Royce Vavrek
Director: Ash Tata
Music Direction: Alan Pierson
Co-presented by PROTOTYPE and BRIC Arts Media

In celebration of the 15th anniversary of its groundbreaking premiere, David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s searing opera Dog Days returns to the PROTOTYPE Festival in a special concert celebrating the work’s lasting relevance and reverberating impact on the field of contemporary opera. The performance is accompanied by acclaimed new music ensemble Newspeak, returning after performing the opera’s original production.

Based on the short story by Judy Budnitz, Dog Days follows thirteen-year-old Lisa and her family as they struggle to survive in a near-future America unraveling under the pressures of war, hunger, and emotional collapse. As food disappears and hope erodes, each member of the family confronts the limits of their humanity in different ways. Their fragile world is further disrupted by the arrival of Prince, a mysterious man who appears to be living and acting like a dog, begging for scraps and refusing to speak. Is he delusional, enlightened, or simply adapting better than the people to the world around him? By turns shocking, brutal, darkly funny, and deeply moving, Dog Days is a powerful meditation on survival, morality, and the animal instincts that emerge in times of crisis.

A talkback with the creative team will follow the performance.

PROTOTYPE is produced by Beth Morrison Projects, a trailblazer in the creation and presentation of contemporary, multi-disciplinary opera-theatre and music-theatre works. The visionary festival is the only one of its kind in New York City and around the country – producing and presenting a wide spectrum of works, from intimate black-box experiences to larger chamber opera productions, valuing artistic, curatorial, and producorial risk-taking.

PROTOTYPE is committed to surprising our audiences and confounding their expectations through content, form, and relevance. The festival gives voice to a diverse group of composers, librettists, performers and musicians across all genres, backgrounds, and cultures. In providing a recurring showcase of visionary opera-theatre and music-theatre pieces, the touring life of the work extends around the world. The festival also presents groundbreaking new works by international artists and has become a global reference of artistic excellence in the field of opera and music-theatre.

PROTOTYPE was co-founded in 2013 by Beth Morrison Projects and HERE under the leadership of Beth Morrison, Kristin Marting, and Kim Whitener.