Darkness in "Red Dog Howls"

Sometimes it seems like it's hard enough to know who we are when no one has deceived us about our identity.

Kathleen Chalfant as Rose and Alfredo Narciso as Michael in "Red Dog Howls." Photo by Joan Marcus. 

In "Red Dog Howls," an elegiac new play by Alexander Dinelaris, at New York Theatre Workshop through October 14th, a young writer stumbles onto a devastating family history.

After his father's death, Michael Kiriakos (Alfredo Narciso) follows the return address on letters left in a box under his father's bed to an apartment in Washington Heights. There he meets Rose Afratian (Kathleen Chalfant), the author of this unread correspondence.

Florencia Lozano as Gabriella Kiriakos and Alfredo Narciso as Michael Kiriakos in "Red Dog Howls." Photo by Joan Marcus.

With Rose as his guide on his journey to self-discovery, Michael neglects his pregnant wife, Gabriella (Florencia Lozano.) "There are some sins," Michael tells the audience as "Red Dog Howls" opens,  "from which we can never be absolved."

The disturbing and shocking in  "Red Dog Howls" is softened by the humanity of its characters. The astonishing Kathleen Chalfant reaches deep in to reveal a raw and  harrowing emotional energy.


Rehearsal Photo ©Stephanie Warren. Kathleen Chalfant,
Alfredo Narciso, and director Ken Rus Schmoll.







The Armenian Genocide of 1915 is a touchstone for a personal story of heritage-found in 
"Red Dog Howls." Dinelaris, along with his excellent cast, and with the aid of director Ken Rus Schmoll, paints an absorbing tale of great scope in short intermissionless ninety minutes.



For more information and tickets for "Red Dog Howls," visit http://www.nytw.org/.