BARKING GIRL Rae sees herself as capable, independent, wistful, romantic. So when motherhood confers a strange new identity upon her, she fights it with every fiber of her being. Until adventure hits in all the wrong ways, and she must construct her own kind of connection with her child.
BARKING GIRL was workshopped in the 2003 O'Neill Playwrights Conference, where it was directed by Maria Mileaf. It had readings at HB Playwrights and AndHow Theatre Company Chrysalis Theatre Company produced it in 2012 at the East 4th Street Theatre, with Pirronne Yousefzadeh directing |
On Chrysalis' production of BARKING GIRL:
"A sweetly lyrical meditation on one woman’s experience of motherhood that takes a philosophical view of the many privations and rewards of procreation in New York... Like any good drama, Barking Girl finds the contradictions in someone’s way of being in the world and pushes them to the breaking point.”
-- Cultural Capitol
"Susan Bernfield’s beautiful script provides so much for these actors to grasp onto, in a poetic way a trip to the park or an argument over putting on shoes takes on a much heavier weight... Barking Girl raises many difficult questions about how to maintain the essence of your personality while putting another life ahead of yours. It’s not something that is frequently discussed, it’s always assumed to work out a particular way, but it is something that is felt by mothers across the globe. Barking Girl is here to discuss what difficulties sacrifice for a child bring, as well as the many joyful and rewarding experiences that are more evident, yet sometimes harder to accept outright." -- New York Theatre Review
"It’s hard to believe Ms. Bernfield wrote this piece around ten years ago. The claustrophobic culture around parenting seems to be even more pronounced now... But the funny, heartfelt “Barking Girl” isn’t just for the double stroller crowd— those with Organic Spirits in their canvas bags are equally sure to find themselves in this anti-mom." -- The New York Times Local East Village
"A sweetly lyrical meditation on one woman’s experience of motherhood that takes a philosophical view of the many privations and rewards of procreation in New York... Like any good drama, Barking Girl finds the contradictions in someone’s way of being in the world and pushes them to the breaking point.”
-- Cultural Capitol
"Susan Bernfield’s beautiful script provides so much for these actors to grasp onto, in a poetic way a trip to the park or an argument over putting on shoes takes on a much heavier weight... Barking Girl raises many difficult questions about how to maintain the essence of your personality while putting another life ahead of yours. It’s not something that is frequently discussed, it’s always assumed to work out a particular way, but it is something that is felt by mothers across the globe. Barking Girl is here to discuss what difficulties sacrifice for a child bring, as well as the many joyful and rewarding experiences that are more evident, yet sometimes harder to accept outright." -- New York Theatre Review
"It’s hard to believe Ms. Bernfield wrote this piece around ten years ago. The claustrophobic culture around parenting seems to be even more pronounced now... But the funny, heartfelt “Barking Girl” isn’t just for the double stroller crowd— those with Organic Spirits in their canvas bags are equally sure to find themselves in this anti-mom." -- The New York Times Local East Village
a nice interview with Micheline Augur on Theaterspeak.com
photos: Isaiah Tanenbaum; top: Adina Taubman; middle: Meg MacCarry, Adina Taubman;
left: Tom O'Keefe, Adina Taubman
photos: Isaiah Tanenbaum; top: Adina Taubman; middle: Meg MacCarry, Adina Taubman;
left: Tom O'Keefe, Adina Taubman