My Life with the Dogs

My Life with the Dogs was based on the true life story of Ivan Mishukov, a young boy from Moscow who left home at the age of four to live with wild street dogs. He survived with the dogs for 2 years before being captured by the police and placed in a children's home. Social workers at the children's home in Moscow said that Ivan 'sometimes behaved like a dog and said that dogs were better than people because they did not lie.'

The story took place in a dark world populated by nervous police men, drunken sailors, a punk band and a single mother. My Life with the Dogs sprang out from a news article from 1998 in which the story of the then 6 year old Ivan Mishukov, who was fetched from the streets of Moscow by the police and the children’s services, after having lived with a band of dogs for more than two years.

His story was widely reported in 1998 leading to a number of western families attempting to adopt him.

My Life with the Dogs by NIE was supported by Arts Council Norway, Arts Council England and the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs/MFA (travel grant/performing arts).

Sources:

NIE: New International Encounter: Visual Theatre, nie-theatre.com, 01.08.2010, http://www.nie-theatre.com/page.php?id=40

PIT, pit.no, 04.08.2010, http://2007.pit.no/show_details.asp?ID=502

"A four year old boy, neglected and betrayed by his own alcoholised mother is not anything one should turn into a joke. That is why the presentation is so important. This story is tragic from one end to the other. Still NIE has brought forward their painting brushes and paints the story in all colours imaginable. The comical stunts being incorporated in the performance make the story of Ivan digestible. Everyone understands the serious undertones, but no one leaves the theatre feeling bad to the gut. In this lies the grandeur of the production." Telemark Arbeiderblad

"New International Encounter conjure something extraordinarily rich, drawing on a mixture of languages and a performance style that is a hybrid of clowning and wistfulness. Watching it is like trying to hold a snowflake in your hand: it melts away" The Guardian

"It's a bold experiment, but somehow their playful, impish style fits perfectly this child’s eye view of a topsy-turvy world in which animal behaviour makes more sense than human." The Stage

"This gritty, touching, modern-day variation on The Jungle Book is a likeable small-scale effort from a troupe with a sizeable talent!" The Times

Source: NIE - New International Encounter, www.nie-theatre.com, 13.08.2010, http://www.nie-theatre.com/page.php?id=13

Porsgrunn International Theatre Festival, www.pit.no, 13.98.2010, http://2007.pit.no/show_details.asp?ID=502

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