Made with heart and care, The Dog With Two Dads is a joy from start to finish, empowering young audiences to be true to themselves and embrace those things which might make us different. Beautifully staged, the show is a treat for all the family and a great way to spark important conversations.

Alex Williams
Head of Programming and Participation, Artsdepot
former Creative Producer for Families and Public Programme, Southbank Centre

The message from this production was beautiful and ticked every box I could wish for. I was moved to tears (maybe sobbing is a better description!) by the end as I too felt represented and only wished there was something like this when I was 5. I hope your play reaches every school age child and those who are struggling — I know they would find comfort in its beauty.

Audience Comment

2022
For Little Earthquake
Commissioned by
Midlands Arts Centre
Funded by
Midlands Arts Centre
Arts Council England
Birmingham City Council
Sir Barry Jackson Trust
Birmingham Pride Community Fund

Here in Hometown are two million people:
Night and day their lives unfold.
And in amongst those two million people,
one small story must be told…

Ali and Ash are living happily ever after in their teeny tiny flat. Only one thing would make them even happier — the pitter-patter of furry feet! Even though it’s a big step, they know they’re ready to become #pawrents for the very first time! But to their surprise, not everyone thinks it’s such a great idea…

Come and join Ali and Ash on their quest for puppy love as they battle with burpees at Bradley’s Bootcamp, dodge dangerous ducks with Tina Twitcher and flee from the Pet Shop Boy’s pack of piranhas. Sprinkled with songs and special surprises, this show about two papas and a pooch celebrates families of every shape and size, and being loved for exactly who you are.

For ages 5+ and their adults.

Every family’s different, no matter its shape or size.
You’re loved and that’s what matters. You’re precious in someone’s eyes.

Your family may look different from the one in the very next seat.
There’s different combinations in every home on every street.

— song from The Dog With Two Dads

Let me do some simple maths: You plus me makes two. Agreed?
But you, plus me, plus one makes three. A beating heart is what I need.

A little thing who needs my love, the way I’ve always needed yours.
I want our home to echo with the pitter-pat of tiny paws.

— song from The Dog With Two Dads

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Dog With Two Dads explored relationships, family structures and LGBTQ+* identities in an accessible, light-hearted and age-appropriate way, ultimately delivering messages of acceptance, validation and equality for all families.

The show was inspired by a key phrase in the Department for Education’s Relationships Education Statutory Guidance (2020): “By the end of primary school, pupils should know that others’ families, either in school or the wider world, sometimes look different from their family, but that they should respect those differences and know that other children’s families are also characterised by love and care.”

Writer Philip Holyman and I were motivated to develop the show in response to the 2019 protests around LGBTQ+ inclusive teaching at Anderton Park Primary School in Birmingham. These protests echoed a deeply troubling climate, not just in Birmingham but elsewhere in the UK and internationally, which has seen a resurgence of anti-LGBTQ+ social attitudes — including increases in bullying and hate crime, alongside an associated rise in mental ill health for LGBTQ+ people.

As part of his first (unsuccessful) Conservative leadership campaign in 2022, Rishi Sunak harked back to the UK’s notorious Section 28 legislation (1988-2003). He pledged to review the Equality Act (2010), narrowing statutory guidance for schools on how they teach LGBTQ+ inclusive sex and relationship education, with the aim of “shielding [pupils] from inappropriate material” in order to “ensure that children are allowed to be children”.

We feel very strongly that age-appropriate positive representation and visibility of LGBTQ+ people and LGBTQ+ families is an important part of a young person’s education and in their understanding of the world they live in. The Dog With Two Dads is an opportunity for children (and their adults) to celebrate everything that makes their own family unique and special, and perhaps more importantly, to recognise that other family structures are equally valid — even if they look very different from the one they might be familiar with.

* lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, with the “+” sign indicating that the acronym includes other sexual orientations and gender identities not specifically named.

CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CAST

CREATIVE TEAM

PRODUCTION PARTNERS

A Little Earthquake Production

Commissioned by Midlands Arts Centre for its 60th anniversary season

FUNDERS

Funded by Arts Council England through National Lottery Project Grants, Birmingham City Council, The Sir Barry Jackson Trust and Birmingham Pride Community Fund

FOR LITTLE EARTHQUAKE

Co-Director | Gareth J. Nicholls
Co-Director | Philip Holyman
Producer | Zoë Roberts
LGBTQ+ Cultural Leadership Placement | Hassan Hussain

FOR MIDLANDS ARTS CENTRE

Artistic Director & Chief Executive | Debbie Kermode
Performing Arts Programmer and Producer | Jo Carr
Head of Marketing | Simi Obra

THANK YOU

Debbie Kermode, for her massive support of Little Earthquake and The Dog With Two Dads; Jo Carr, Simi Obra, Holly Mulhern, Oliver Smith and the entire team at MAC; Linda Muirhead at the Department of Drama & Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham; Arts Council England, Sir Barry Jackson Trust and Birmingham Pride Community Fund for supporting the creation of the show; Birmingham City Council for supporting the LGBTQ+ Cultural Leadership Placement; James, Sarah, Eve and Bertie Yarker; Michelle Smith and the team at Stan’s Cafe; Kay Wilton at Birmingham Repertory Theatre; Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

EXPLORE WORK BY ROLE

Sound Designer & Composer

Writer

EXPLORE WORK BY CATEGORY