Tag Archive for: plays

HORIZON THEATRE PRESENTS DOG MOM

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 3/19/26

Horizon Theatre Presents Southeastern Premiere of Heartwarming Comedy

DOG MOM, March 20–April 19, 2026

A tender comedy about second chances and an unlikely bond between a reluctant dog mom and the adorable stray who chooses her

Horizon Theatre Company continues its 2025-2026 season with the Southeastern premiere of tail-wagging comedy DOG MOM by Tate Elizabeth Hanyok, running March 20–April 19 (press opening March 27). Unexpected love, healing, and the strange magic of second chances are at the heart of this winner of the B-Street Theatre New Comedies Festival. Newly divorced, Liz is determined to rebuild her life on her own terms in a small Brooklyn apartment. The last thing she needs is a dog. But when she reluctantly fosters an adorable and determined-to-love-her stray, what begins as a temporary arrangement slowly becomes something much deeper — and chaotic.

As human actors embody both people, friends, and canines, this tender, funny, and quietly profound comedy unfolds through park meet-ups, hallway run-ins, and canine misadventures that slowly crack open Liz’s guarded heart. As she navigates questions about identity, motherhood, and societal expectations, Liz begins to discover through Dog’s unwavering affection what it means to love unconditionally — to be chosen and to choose back. With warmth and humor, DOG MOM celebrates the transformative power of companionship and the courage it takes to open your heart again.

“DOG MOM was born from a desire to create shared laughter and connection during a moment of profound social fragmentation,” explains playwright Tate Hanyok. “In increasingly fraught times, the play looks toward one of the few remaining points of near-universal affection — our relationships with our pets — as a way to restore community and mutual recognition. The bond between people and their pets offers a rare common language, and comedy became the vehicle through which that language could invite audiences into collective release, empathy, and belonging.” The play is receiving a national Rolling World Premiere this year with productions in eight different cities around the country.

Tate Elizabeth Hanyok is a writer for theater, TV and film, and an acclaimed actor who also appeared as Dog in the first production at B Street Theatre in Sacramento last fall, where she is an ensemble member. She was named one of the Moviemaker Top 25 Writers to Watch, and her work includes writer and producer of SEX APPEAL for Hulu, director of FRIENDS UNTIL THE END, premiering May 2026, and producer/actor/star of her adapted-for-TV play, LOVE AND BASEBALL on HBO Max.

Director, longtime Horizon artistic associate Heidi McKerley (Best Director Suzi Award for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812) returns to direct this play that is close to her heart as a devoted dog mom herself. “DOG MOM captures the surprising ways companionship can change us. It’s funny and heartfelt, but it also asks meaningful questions about how we care for each other.”

The cast includes three Horizon veterans — Enoch King, Marcie Millard and Megan Hayes — who each have more than two decades of Horizon performances, including worked together in Horizon’s long-running outrageous holiday comedy The Santaland Diaries. Playing the leading role of the unexpected dog mom Liz is Marcie Millard (Suzi Award for Horizon’s The Cake) accompanied by Megan Hayes (Horizon’s The Perfect Prayer, Waffle Palace Christmas, Sex with Strangers) as the lovable golden retriever mix who won’t take “no” for an answer. Enoch King (Suzi Award for Horizon’s The Light, Waffle Palace) plays the “nuts” next-door neighbor husky Reuben whose mom, Nell, played by Horizon newcomer Arizsia Staton, barrels into Liz’s new life, determined to be her new best friend. Playing a panoply of other characters in Liz’s journey is Louis Kyper (Horizon’s Support Group for Men).

The fanciful world of the play inside and outside Liz’s Brooklyn apartment is created by Horizon Suzi Award-winning resident scenic and lighting designers, Moriah and Isabel Curley-Clay and Mary Parker, respectively. Amanda Edgerton West (Horizon’s Once) costumes the dog and human characters, Paul Glaze designs the soundscape, and Annabel Sapp fills out the stage with the many props.

Tickets start at $40* on Wednesdays and Thursdays and $45* for Friday nights, Saturday nights and weekend matinees. Prices increase with demand, so patrons are encouraged to order early for the best prices and availability. Group pricing is available for parties 10 or more. Groups of 10-24 receive $5 off the general admission ticket price. Groups of 25 or more receive $7 off the general admission ticket price.  Best deals are for subscribers – 25-50% off. Students under 25 can get $20* tickets with valid student ID. 7.5% sales tax/fee is added to all ticket orders. Single ticket seating is general admission, with a reserved seating section for season subscribers. There is limited accessible seating for patrons needing accommodations, and it must be reserved by phone. For tickets and more information, visit horizontheatre.com or call the box office at 404.584.7450.

For full actor and creative team bios, visit horizontheatre.com/plays/dog-mom/

CREATIVE TEAM

Producer                                                                          Lisa Adler

Playwright                                                                        Tate Elizabeth Hanyok

Director                                                                            Heidi McKerley

Assistant Director                                                             Amy Cain

Scenic Designers                                                             Isabel & Moriah Curley-Clay

Lighting Designer                                                             Mary Parker

Costume Designer                                                            Amanda Edgerton West

Sound Designer                                                               Paul Glaze          

Prop Designer                                                                  Annabell Sapp

Stage Manager                                                                Lexi McKay*

Assistant Stage Manager                                                Tara Patterson

CAST

Liz                                                                                   Marcie Millard

Dog                                                                                  Megan Hayes

Reuben/The Ex/Others                                                     Enoch King*

Nell/Others                                                                       Arizsia Staton*

Swing/Multiple Roles                                                        Louis Kyper

*Members Actor’s Equity Association

HORIZON THEATRE TO HOST 27TH ANNUAL NEW SOUTH YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL THROUGH JUNE 7

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 6/2/25

Next generation of writers to sharpen their skills with week of performances,
playwrighting workshops and seminars

Inman Park’s Horizon Theatre is hosting over two dozen talented young playwrights from across the country in its 27th Annual New South Young Playwrights Festival (NSYPF), June 1 – 7. From a wide pool of script submissions from college students nationwide, the theatre company selected 25 aspiring writers to attend the free week-long intensive. The chosen students will be able to flex their creative muscles in a packed week of playwrighting workshops and seminars with professional theatre actors, directors and playwrights. NSYPF will culminate in a free showcase of the new works. The New South Young Playwrights 5-Minute Play Festival will be hosted onstage at Horizon Theatre at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 7.

On May 2, the National Endowment for the Arts rescinded Horizon Theatre’s $30,000 grant that funds the New South Young Playwrights Festival annually. As the grant was initially awarded in November 2024, Horizon was in the final stages of planning for the festival— students had been accepted, personnel hired, airline tickets and housing reserved.  Despite the sudden loss of funding, Horizon was able to move forward with the festival as planned due to the generous support of individual and foundation donors.

“The New South Young Playwrights Festival is our most nationally impactful program, identifying and nurturing writers that have gone on to major careers in theatre, television and film,” said Horizon Theatre Co-Artistic/Producing Director Lisa Adler. “These young writers are at Horizon from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. every day of the festival, learning and growing in a supportive, nurturing environment. We focus on introducing them to the world of professional theatre and media writing, building their skills, bringing in professional artists to perform their plays, and creating a community of fellow writers and mentors that can sustain them long after the Festival. It’s an intensive experience that hundreds of NSYPF alumni have called truly life-changing.  We are eternally grateful for the donors who stepped up to help us ensure the show can go on! It’s an honor to give these gifted young people a chance to shine, and we hope to continue this tradition for years to come. The future is bright with this next generation of talented playwrights.”

The lead mentors for this year’s New South Young Playwrights Festival are professional playwrights and educators France-Luce Benson, Kira Rockwell and Crystal Skillman.  France-Luce Benson is a Haitian-American playwright and Assistant Professor at CSU San Marcos. Her plays have been produced and developed in New York by Atlantic Theatre Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Billy Holiday Theatre, The New Black Fest, Apollo Theatre, New Perspectives Theatre, The Fire This Time Festival, and regionally by Crossroads Theatre, The Fountain Theatre, Juggernaut and City Theatre Miami, among others. Internationally, her works have been shown at the Afropea Festival in Marseilles, France; and Global Voices Theatre in London. Kira Rockwell teaches Dramatic Writing for the Stage and Screen at Georgia State University. Her work has also been developed with The Kennedy Center, NNPN, Great Plains Theatre Commons, Working Title Playwrights and more. Returning for her second year as a lead mentor Crystal Skillman, a professor at The New School (NYC) and Pace University, is an internationally acclaimed playwright whose Rain and Zoe Save the World premiered in the UK in 2022 and whose award-winning musical Mary and Max had its sold-out, critically acclaimed premiere at the largest theatre in Austria, Theatre Linz.Her play The Rocket Men will be produced in Atlanta by Synchronicity Theatre this fall.  The Festival is also led by three associate mentors who are currently pursuing their MFA in playwriting: Mo Holmes (Columbia), Ellie Melick (Carnegie Mellon), and M Kamara (Southern Illinois University Carbondale).

The 25 winners of the New South Young Playwrights Festival will visit Horizon Theatre from colleges nationwide, including: Columbia College Chicago, Bennington College, Temple University, Augsburg University, Carnegie Mellon University, Wake Forest University, Palm Beach State College, Georgia State University, Troy University, Howard University, University of North Carolina, Agnes Scott College, Emory University, Ohio University, University of Virginia, San Diego State University, North Carolina Central University, Oglethorpe University and Clark Atlanta University.

As a part of the festival, the students will also be tasked with drafting a new short play to be featured in the 27th Annual New South Young Playwrights 5-Minute Play Festival. During the intensive, the plays will be workshopped and rehearsed with professional Atlanta actors taking on the roles. The week will culminate in the New South Young Playwrights Short Play Festival, a public reading and showcase of the students’ work on Saturday, June 7 at 2 p.m. The NSPF Short Play Festival is free and open to the public.  No reservation is required.

The Festival is made possible this year by the George M. Brown Trust Fund, generous individual donors, and Horizon’s season sponsors: City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, the Georgia Council for the Arts and The Shubert Foundation. Local restaurant partners providing meals for participants as in-kind support include Hudson Grille, Flying Biscuit, The Albert, Wylie and Rum, Barcelona Wine Bar, Donnie’s Donuts, Elmyr, Wrecking Bar Brewpub, Savage Pizza, BarTaco, Ali Baba Mediterranean, Mezcalito’s, The Daily, Gene’s BBQ and MetroFresh.

For more information about the New South Young Playwrights Festival, visit our website at https://www.horizontheatre.com/education-and-community/young-playwrights/

LEAD TEACHING ARTISTS (see bios below):

France-Luce Benson (CSU San Marcos)

Kira Rockwell (Georgia State University)

Crystal Skillman (The New School and Pace University)

MFA TEACHING ARTISTS:

Mo Holmes (Columbia)

Ellie Melick (Carnegie Mellon)

M Kamara (Southern Illinois University Carbondale)

PARTICIPANTS:

Kayla Karnesky (Columbia College Chicago – 4th year)

Timmy Torinus (Bennington College – 3rd year)

Gabe Gibboni (Temple University – 4th year)

Lucía Salazar-Davidson (Augsburg University – 3rd year)

Moyo Ifafore (Carnegie Mellon University – 2nd year)

Aderinola Adepoju (Wake Forest University – 2nd year)

Julia Avery (Palm Beach State College – 2nd year)

Kai Chisholm (Georgia State University – 4th year)

Alexis McNeal (Troy University – 4th year)

Niveah Glover (Howard University – 1st year)

Taufik Abdul-Jaleel (The University of North Carolina at Charlotte – 4th year)

Nevaeh Harris-Redd (Agnes Scott College – 2nd year)

Ainsley Powers (Emory University – 3rd year)

Bobbi Salas (Columbia College Chicago – 4th year)

Carmen Foster (Ohio University – 1st year)

Julia Shuttleworth (University of Virginia – 2nd year)

Ian Rein (Emory University – 4th year)

Gianni Ly (San Diego State University – 1st year)

Anh Vo (San Diego State University – 1st year)

Shahim Faircloth (North Carolina Central University – 4th year)

Oluwatosin Thompson (Georgia State University – 2nd year)

Eden Lipham – (Oglethorpe University – 3rd year)

Anthony Cosgrove (Temple University – 2nd year)

Nyla McKoy (Clark Atlanta University – 4th year)

Amelia Milstein (University of Virginia – 4th year)