Sea Dog Theater –Stories of Alienation and Reconciliation

By Alix Cohen

Christopher Domig was an increasingly self-produced actor when asked to become artistic director of The Firebone Theater Company in Manhattan. He’d fostered no such ambitions. Of course, “I was honored. Who doesn’t like to be asked in a leadership position?” Having children changed the financial part of the equation. It was no longer plausible to leave town for a job. Chris had a good experience with Firebone, but felt the company lacked elements and values which could’ve been better realized.

Wife, Janelle Garcia Domig, suggested he “might as well” start his own company. In 2016, a la Babes in Arms, they became co-founders of Sea Dog Theater at St. George’s Episcopal Church -209 E 16th Street. Chris stresses the generosity of the church is the company’s lifeblood. “Without the location, there would be no chance.”

Why “Sea Dog?” The term has various nautical allusions: an experienced sailor, a 16th century pirate, and, new to me, a rainbow like formation in foggy conditions. Chris sees further metaphor: “We’re all out to sea. We’re all trying to find life’s land. If you’re lucky, you’ll see the rainbow. It’s the journey we‘re on.”

A thinking man’s artistic director, he began with a mission statement inspired by Victor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning and an influence whom Chris himself has dramatized. Production choices would feature exploration of significance in relationship, work, or the face of unavoidable suffering. (Frankl’s philosophy was rooted in the horrors of the Holocaust.) “There’s practice in his outlook.”

One might say all good theater contains those elements. “My hope was that if we started, there might be a red thread that made our journey distinctive…We seek to offer an antidote to the loneliness and anxiety that pervade our culture by cultivating creativity, curiosity and care….”

Since its origin, the company has presented eight full productions in an evocative altar space and about 45 readings performed in the church’s intimate basement. The Equity Waver Theater (under 100 seats), has paid its artists from the beginning. 16 performances of each piece emerge under a financially necessary Showcase Contract. “Reviewers don’t take you seriously, but it’s what we can do.”

Jay O. Sanders, Marianne Plunkett, Dominique Morriseau, Vincent D’Onofrio, Len Cariou -whose Tuesdays with Morrie extended its run due to popular demand and is now on its way to Knoxville, Tennessee- and Bill Irwin are among those veteran participants likely accustomed to higher pay and visibility.

I inquired how Chris reached Len Cariou. “I asked him out for lunch and told him I could pay him $50 for a reading I wanted him to be part of. He said he’d do it and paid for lunch which cost more than $100. We’ve been friends ever since. True story.” And Bill Irwin? “I thought he’d do a beautiful job with Will Eno’s extended monologue and reached out to his agent. Bill immediately agreed.”

“Currency in the art world is stories. I’ve found there are quite a few famous folk out there who just want to be in the room with good stories and good people. We take risks. Everything doesn’t have to be polished. Sea Dog is rough, nimble, intimate and authentic.”

Full productions offer an opening night talk-back, while single night readings provide not only a talk-back, but wine, hors d’oeuvres and often the opportunity to speak directly to artists. “We break down the distance extending hospitality, welcoming community.”

All quotes are Christopher Domig

As part of the Spring 2026 Reading Series, Sea Dog is proud to launch Spotlight, a new platform dedicated to rigorous, actor-driven solo performance. Bill Irwin opened the program January 24 with Will Eno’s Title and Deed. It was an ideal collaboration, the kind of splendid outcome that made the play seem bespoke to its actor. Access to both artists was friendly and extensive. Sense of fraternity prevailed.

Second in the series, February 21 at 7:00, is Magdalen by Erin Layton and Julie Kline, performed by Erin Layton.
Actor/playwright Erin Layton become familiar with Sea Dog both through its work and the church. She did an acting intensive with the theater last year. This is her first one woman play.

Being raised Roman Catholic “definitely shaped my approach to development of the piece.” The artist visited Catholic churches in the city to reacquaint herself with “smells, sounds, and the marble solemn faces of the Saints staring down upon me.” Awareness of Magdalen’s shocking, devastating, cruel history was piqued by a song Joni Mitchell performed 22 years ago.

“Who were these women?” she wondered. “What was their term of punishment and why? What happened to their stories, the children?” A subsequent article in The Irish Times cemented her compulsion to tell the story. “As someone closely linked to Ireland, with empathy and heart for the downtrodden, I sit with the reality of their plight … In terms of everything happening today-the stripping of women’s rights and lack of separation between church and state, the play is a form of protest.”

Next, on March 14, is Leela, written and performed by Sean Casey Leclaire.
A friend in The Barrow Group introduced Chris and Sean. The latter went to a few shows at Sea Dog. “I liked Chris’s thoughtfulness, the rigor of craft, the theater’s spirit.” This is the playwright/actor’s first collaboration with the theater.

Leela is a Sanskrit word meaning Divine Play. In fact, Sean chants in Sanskirt. He’s been a yogi and student of the Tao 40 years. This is his journey. “Audiences have called it ‘a fierce pilgrimage’ and ‘a 15 round prizefight with God.’ It cuts very close to the bone.” The play is described by its creator as transition “from fear to love…the inner journey of a regular guy transforming to a blending of masculine/feminine to a balance of yin/yang”

“I believe in God as the infinite intelligence that infuses and informs all things. A mystery.”

“If open to it, the audience goes on its own pilgrimage right in front of me. It’s breathtaking to catalyze and serve.” “Leela is a story about touching our better selves.” Sean tells me his life has radically changed. “I know my own face now.” The piece includes classical sonnets which describe and illuminate.

Then, April 25, The Second Avenue Subway by Dean Poynor.
Dean Poynor and Chris bonded over the background of Wheaton College. Sea Dog has done readings of two of his plays. “They’ve been a great, sensitive resource for me to see work clearly and honestly.”

“The subway is a wonderful environment for teaching and learning all sorts of life lessons.” Dean looks back to the impact of a father who passed several years ago, and forwards to his influence on a now-adult son, imagining a future where things might not go as well as planned.

Raised by missionary parents, the playwright had “a front row seat to religious training and faith…” His piece asks how we pass on the best traditions to the next generation. There will be two actors, neither Dean. One will play his son from 5 to his 20s, gradually incorporating new information and changing beliefs. “As a parent, you can actually see pieces start to fit together.”

We’re lead from innocence to “the kid” calling out his father on things he was taught. Even the subway becomes a target. Dean hopes his piece sparks some sort of wonder about “a flawed but durable institution.” The subway? Parenthood??

The last in this series, June 27, will be a workshop exploration of key scenes from King Lear by William Shakespeare.
Actor Gary Sloan was introduced to Sea Dog by Mark Lewis who mentored Chris Domig at Wheaton College and has directed at
Sea Dog.

When an actor dropped out of the company’s recent production of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing, Gary returned to the New York stage in the role of Jacob. He’d played a different part in the play forty years ago. The veteran has also performed in King Lear on four previous occasions with Hal Holbrook, Fritz Weaver, and Stacy Keach as the monarch.

Brain child of Lewis, now head of the theater program at Wheaton, the Lear evening is based on five years of readings and workshops around the country including casts made up of Wheaton graduates. This iteration will likely focus “on 11 scenes of Lear staged in and around the entirety of Calvary St. George’s church spaces.”

Gary aptly parallels Lear’s themes to contemporary times: “dangers of authoritarianism, dynastic wealth, the fragility of decisions made when older and mentally challenged, rewarding flattery and banishing honesty…What does the fool say? ‘Thou should not have been old until thou hadst been wise.”

Sea Dog subsists on city and stage grants as well as individual contributions. Given the current climate, who knows when Federal grants will be available. The little company that could proceeds with integrity, commitment guts and grace of intention.

Opening Photo: top row left to right:  Padraic Lillis, Bill Irwin, Will Eno, Sean Casey Leclaire, Erin Layton, Gary Sloan
bottom row left to right: Christopher J. Domig, Dean Poynor, Julie Klein – Photo by Biagio Dell’ Aiera

Message from Christopher Domig: “The actual value of the evening of a reading far exceeds donation. That’s very intentional. From the beginning, we’ve been trying to push against the highly transactional nature of theater in New York—the sense that meaningful artistic experiences must be expensive, exclusive, or earned through access. Our hope is that people leave feeling they’ve been given more than they paid for. That kind of generosity, when paired with good work and real conversation, can quietly change a person.

What we ultimately care about is the whole experience—the way theater can gather strangers, soften edges, and create a sense of shared humanity. Especially right now, when so many of us feel atomized and wary of one another, that feels not just valuable but necessary. At its best, theater reminds us how to be in the same room together again. I believe that’s still possible.”

Heartening.

Sea Dog Theater: https://www.seadogtheater.org/
The Reading Series: https://www.seadogtheater.org/readingseries
Readings are suggested ($25) donation events, all donations go towards artist payments and hospitality costs.