Critical Reviews

"Lately, I've become accustomed to the way
The ground opens up and envelops me
Each time I go out to walk the dog. " - Leroi Jones, 1961

"...[David Anderson] has gained experience in different theatres in the world and has the gift of being able to captivate the audience's attention for over an hour; speaking, playing, listening, or only through a gesture, a position of the head, a step...remaining still...[An] uninterruptedly filled event, which, especially in the transitions between the parts, is excellently formed...Anderson commands the space also when he is reciting... Everything is honest and real, tested and cared for."
- Werner Barfod, Artistic Section, Goetheanum from Stage Forum

"A delicate interaction...intimate and transient...helps one to breathe."
- Das Goetheanum, Switzerland

"The spell was so complete that after the performance it was difficult for me to remind myself that I wasn't talking to the author or a circle of his close friends. The sense of encounter with Büchner's mind was intense and personal."
- Fred Harris, New Paltz, New York

"Our summer campers watched and listened raptly. A delightful story filed with the rhythms and cadences of far away Iraq. Visual balm for the soul"
-Nick Franceschelli, Camp Director, Visiting Students Program, Hawthorne Valley Farm

"Choreographically this piece is a gem. It has, overall, a marvelous serenity and at the same time continuing surprising variations... In this sensitivity to the flow of life through movement and sound, none of the poetry was lost. It actually heightened the vision of another landscape which once glimpsed makes every day happenings turn into works of art. 'Walking the dog' is lyric theatre at its most pure."
- Sybil Shearer, Chicago correspondent for
Ballet Review

"Pointing a way to the future - a new synthesis of three art forms."
- Anthroposophical Journal, New Zealand

"Thoroughly compelling... Captivating... A rich,poetic delivery with honest audience contact and inner intensity... Fluid and Fluent... It engages an audience on spiritual levels."
- Dr. Suzanne Burgoyne, Professor of Theater, University of Missouri, Columbia

"Your wonderful play brought today's children, who are used to being overloaded with more and more, the gift of less - of next to nothing! You brought an entire world to life using the fewest possible material components. I watched the children watching the play, and I saw that world being created in their eyes and souls, a world full of music and light. It was magical, healthy and therapeutic for them and for me. -So thank you again and long may you... walk! "
- Melissa Merkling, Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, Newtown, CT

"This was a perfect example of a 'simple' message and its deeper complexity. The message was 'Open the moment'; be alive to the ordinary and its mysteries, to the interaction of the human spirit with place, other people, the animal world. Man's relationship with dog, for instance. Superficially that may sound trite, yet it is anything but... Intensely committed and performed... Among phrases I took away with me was the poet's reference to 'bonus moments'; the ordinary instances when we assume we are waiting for 'real' life to proceed. Waiting for a bus, for example. The need to realise that such times are also part of our lives, with their own validity and potential."
- The Examiner, Munster, Ireland

"[Walking the dog] entwines the everyday with age-old existential conundrums... The poem hangs as a coherent whole... Lucid moments that demonstrate genuine descriptive ability... Inspired reflection..."
- The Scotsman, Scotland

"'Walking the dog' is a skillfully performed piece... Rich moments of quiet beauty, when sound, word and movement unite to sense the essence behind the everyday event... Unusually satisfying."
- The Press, Christchurch, New Zealand

"A soulful evening... A magical unity... Simple, sensitive, creative."
- Protea, Sydney, Australia

"Delicate and consummate skill."
- Christchurch Newsletter, New Zealand

"Filled with grace and passion."
- Dr. Robin Remington, Professor of Comparative Politics,
University of Missouri, Columbia

“Prepare to quench your soul…The freshness of Walking the dog is a wonderful secret for discovery. Here a fresh breath of freedom is evident.”
-Donna Hickey Jackson, editor, Prepress Technology, Denver, Colorado

“A feast for the senses!”
– Ann Krane, Portland Waldorf School, Oregon

“Like a look into the future…directing that brought the artistry of the performers and the experience of the audience into an immediate meeting in the moment…Refreshing!”
-Hannah Gale, MFA, director, Chicago, Illinois

”If you want a simple plot, go to the movies…This piece is alive…for searchers everywhere!”
Scott Olmsted, Class Teacher, Live Oak Waldorf School, Applegate, California

“Walking the dog is a journey that travels those solitary human moments, moments each person in the audience knows by heart by the time they are thirty. The performance relives the urgent questions of any individual pressed to grow and awaken until we face the mystery of our own unfolding unarmed by brilliant answers…Somehow the simplicity and purity of this performance shimmers with multidimensional elements: the words and music, then the silence, the motion and the stillness, the act and the pause, the human and the being…Bravo to Walking the dog! In a venue gorged with entertaining junk food, here is served nourishment for body and soul.”
- Stephanie Anderson, actress, director and writer, Fort Collins, Colorado

“Thank you Walking the dog Theater for inspiring LIFE and for the memory of grace, harmony and beauty.”
- Mary Hershberger, Massage Therapist, Fargo, North Dakota

"Where did that dog that used to be here go? I thought about him once again tonight before I went to bed."
- Shimaki Akahiko