July 13, 2022 – August 7, 2022
“ Don’t be sorry. You didn’t create the world.” “Yeah but… maybe I could do more to change it.”
Amina and Ryan are both officers on the Cleveland police force. Amina is black, Ryan is white, and they are falling deeply and passionately in love. When an officer-involved shooting rocks the department, small cracks in their relationship widen into a chasm of confusion and self-doubt. A mystery and a love story with high stakes and no easy answers, Kevin Artigue’s play fearlessly examines police violence, interracial love, and class in the 21st century.
Originally Produced by South Coast Repertory
SHEEPDOG was presented as part of the New Works Festival at
Long Wharf Theatre (Joshua Borenstein, Managing Director)
Sponsored by C.M. & Stephanie Partridge
Watch an interview with playwright Kevin Artigue from the 2020 UNMUTED series. These interviews and discussions took place during the development process of the play.
Watch The Making of Sheepdog from the 2020 UNMUTED series. These interviews and discussions took place during the development process of the play.
True to CATF nature, some elements of the show have changed. Be on the lookout for updated information about the shows!
Learn more about Sheepdog by reading the 2020 UNMUTED Companion. The Companion was created during the development process of the play.
Kevin Artigue writes plays, TV, and film across genres and is drawn to stories where the political meets the personal. He was raised in Redlands, CA and calls Brooklyn home. His play Sheepdog (Dramatists Play Service) was a recipient of an Edgerton New Play Award and a finalist for the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association 2020 New Play Award. Sheepdog premiered at South Coast Repertory in 2019 and at Shattered Globe Theatre in Chicago to critical acclaim. Kevin is a member of the resident playwright company at New Dramatists, class of 2028. He’s also a current member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages, and an alum of The Working Farm at SPACE at Ryder Farm, Interstate 73, and the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group. In summer of 2020, his new play I, My Ruination, about the director Elia Kazan and his decision to “name names” in 1952, was performed online with the Cape Cod Theatre Project, with a cast including Paul Giamatti, Nina Arianda, Corey Stoll, Pedro Pascal, and Arian Moayed. His work has been performed and developed with South Coast Rep, Shattered Globe, Golden Thread, Page 73, The Public Theater, the National New Play Network, NYTW, Long Wharf Theater, Portland Center Stage, and the Playwrights’ Center. MFA: Iowa Playwrights Workshop.
Melissa Crespo, Director, is a director of new plays, musicals, and opera. Recent: world premiere of Justice, book by Lauren Gunderson, music by Bree Lowdermilk, and lyrics by Kait Kerrigan (Arizona Theatre Company) and Yoga Play by Dipika Guha (Syracuse Stage and Geva Theatre Center). As a playwright, her play Egress, co-written with Sarah Saltwick, recently received an NNPN rolling world premiere at Salt Lake Acting Company and Amphibian Stage. Fellowships and residencies include: Time Warner Fellow (WP Theatre), Usual Suspect (NYTW), The Director’s Project (Drama League), Van Lier Directing Fellow (Second Stage Theatre), and the Allen Lee Hughes Directing Fellow (Arena Stage). Melissa received her M.F.A. in Directing from The New School for Drama. She is a Founding Editor of 3Views on Theater and was featured in the 2020 Broadway Women’s Fund “Women to Watch on Broadway.” She is currently the Associate Artistic Director of Syracuse Stage. https://www.melissacrespo.com
