Theatre review: Ivan and the dogs, Edinburgh

Published on Friday 22 April 2011 21:35

IVAN AND THE DOGS TRAVERSE, EDINBURGH ****

in recent times, a strand of performance has emerged that signals a profound change in humankind's view of its once-central place in the universe. Some people call it dis-human theatre, others use the word post-human; and it's an understated yet deeply challenging version of that feeling that seems to inspire Hattie Naylor's remarkable monologue Ivan And The Dogs, based on the true story of a child who survived on the mean streets of 1990s Moscow by living with a pack of dogs.

Presented at the Traverse this weekend in a powerful touring co-production by ATC and Soho Theatre, and first conceived as a radio play, Ivan And The Dogs certainly depends heavily on the spoken word. Rad Kaim, as Ivan, talks softly and intensely for an hour or so, barely moving from his perch in a stark box-shaped space, as he leads us through the a ravaged city, where Ivan – only four – leaves his mother and violent stepfather, and finds love, security and trust in the company of five wild dogs.

For all its theatrical simplicity, Ivan And The Dogs is transformed into a compelling live performance by director Ellen McDougall and her team. The Russian city soundscape by Dan Jones is magnificent, as are Duncan McLean's eerie and beautiful images of Bjelka, the great white dog that first adopts Ivan. And if the sensibility of the piece finally has as much to do with a traditional British passion for animals as it has with the politics of the ruthless new Russia, it still raises some profound questions about the species we are, and whether we any longer have the right to claim a monopoly on values like trust and compassion, or on the very idea of an immortal soul.