“...an important artistic statement on one of the most urgent issues affecting America today with integrity and dignity. For these reasons, if one play deserves to makes the jump from Off-Broadway to Broadway this year, it should be Dead Dog Park.”
NY Theater Guide
Like a story torn out of today's newspapers, this timely drama centers around a white police officer who is accused of pushing a young African-American teenage boy out a four-story window during a routine police chase.
The effects of a tragic incident can, in a moment, forever redefine the lives of all those intimately connected to it.
This tautly written and riveting tale explores the malleability of guilt and innocence when pitted against prejudice and presumption, truth and sensationalism. As the former officer stands at the precipice of fate, neither he nor the young man can distinguish fact from fiction, certainty from doubt, guilt from innocence.
“Mr. Malawer, I saw DEAD DOG PARK ... and am still blown away...maybe because I have lived that play many times over.... I am a New York City Police Officer with over thirty years of service. I was the Commanding Officer of the 043 Precinct in the Bronx when four white street crime officers shot and killed an unarmed African immigrant named Amadou Diallo back in 1999. As the Commander, I met with officers, family and community in an effort to understand, explain and investigate that matter. As a duty captain in the Bronx, and as a duty inspector in Manhattan North, I was called to investi-gate several incidents wherein a suspect fell or jumped from a window while interacting with police. I have had extensive dealing with Rev. Sharpton, Ron Kuby, and numerous and sundry other civil rights lawyers. Your insight, presentation, depiction; all spot on! I was - am - those two officers. I have had conversations such as they had. I have been in court rooms such as the one you portrayed. I have spoken to mothers who have lost their children to police violence. I cannot for the life of me understand how you could write a play such as this without living it, but you did! Thanks, I enjoyed it very much.”
Mike P
Keep watch here for news on DEAD DOG PARK’s return to NYC.
Above: Tom O’Keefe (left) and Migs Govea
Above, left to right: Ryan Quinn, Susannah Millonzi, Tom O’Keefe, Eboni Flowers, and Migs Govea
“Is the Tyler Chapin story true? Of course it is – it just hasn’t happened. Yet.”
Theater is Easy