Theater Preview

These are the 9 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for November

November can be a weird time in the theater world: Spooky Halloween shows are waning but it might seem a little too soon for Christmas and holiday fare. Luckily that makes this month like a grab-bag, with a little something for everyone.

Picnic, November 2-22
Theatre Three

If you're longing for some repressed sexual tension, 1950s style, then this Pulitzer Prize-winning dramedy is for you. Haulston Mann plays a drifter (William Holden in the movie) who upends a small Kansas town with his pecs and biceps and aversion to shirt-wearing. It's a sultry, steamy slice of Americana and gives Dallas-Fort Worth actor Amber Devlin the chance to steal the show as a spinster schoolteacher who's desperate to marry.

The Sound of Music, November 3-22
Dallas Summer Musicals

Think you're Alp'ed out by this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic? Though there was a widely mocked live telecast on NBC in 2013, and Lyric Stage mounted a lovely production that same year, this brand-new tour is promising to "tear off the varnish of the past and reveal one of the great, fresh glories of musical theater." Tony-winning director Jack O'Brien — who's also currently behind the helm of Dallas Opera's Great Scott — has grand plans, and the original Mary Poppins from Broadway, Ashley Brown, is featured as Mother Superior.

J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, November 11-December 6
Theatre Threesixty

Much like last year's Cavalia, this larger-than-life production is building its own theater wherever it goes. When it's in Dallas, the tented structure known as The Spire will be erected at 2450 San Jacinto St., and within it will be a truly in-the-round retelling of that famous boy who refuses to grow up. Overhead surround CGI projection, actors flying 40 feet in the air, and puppets are just a few of the tricks in store for audiences.

Death of a Salesman, November 13-21
Fun House Theatre and Film

Continuing with its non-traditional casting, the wonderfully warped minds at Fun House are populating Arthur Miller's 1949 drama with an "age-blind" cast. Jeff Swearingen will slump into the role of Willy Loman, while little rising star Kennedy Waterman will play his wife, Linda. Other 14- to 18-year-olds familiar to Fun House audiences will join them, while Susan Sargeant directs.

The Night Alive, November 18-December 12
Undermain Theatre

Four modern Dubliners find solace in each other as they try to stay ahead of their past in Conor McPherson's latest play, which picked up a few awards Off-Broadway recently. Undermain company members Bruce DuBose, Katherine Bourne, and Teddy Davey will be directed by Dylan Key, whose guiding hand just seems to keep getting better and better.

The Show About Men, November 19-22
Danielle Georgiou Dance Group

The hit of the FIT festival returns for a limited engagement, this time at Eastfield College. DGDG's incisive, multidisciplinary look at the trials and triumphs men face every day charmed critics its first time around, and now hopefully more people will get to experience this unique piece of performance dance/theater.

The Totalitarians, November 20-December 19
Kitchen Dog Theater

Talk about timing: Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's political satire about a charismatic candidate who relies on a speech writer to keep her foot out of her mouth comes just as election hysteria is ramping up. This will be the show's regional premiere, and the last time KDT staged one of Nachtrieb's plays (Boom, in 2010), it was very well received. Tina Parker, Drew Wall, Leah Spillman, and Max Hartman star.

Blood Wedding, November 21-December 13
Cara Mia Theatre Co.

Federico García Lorca's tale of forbidden love sounds even sexier in the playwright's native Spanish, which is how Cara Mia is presenting it (at least partially). There's a runaway bride and a passion-driven hunt through the forest, as well as a handsome stranger. Sounds exciting, right?

A Christmas Carol, November 25-December 26
Dallas Theater Center

Fresh off his acclaimed turn as Dr. Martin Luther King in The Mountaintop, Hassad El-Amin is stepping into the stingy Scrooge's slippers in this DTC annual classic. He'll be joined by Cameron Cobb, who's making the transition from tempted scientist Dr. Faust to the hardworking Bob Cratchit. Every year the DTC team makes tweaks to help this show feel fresh — this year's changes include Christie Vela as the show's first-ever female director — so there are sure to be some fun surprises in store.

Love, lust, and longing in Picnic at Theatre Three.

Photo by Lois Leftwich

Love, lust, and longing in Picnic at Theatre Three.

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Season Announcement

Echo Theatre introduces Dallas audiences to a season of strangers in 2026

Photo by Julieta Cervantes

'The Roommate' was recently on Broadway.

It's a "Season of Strangers" for Echo Theatre this year, as the Southwest's premier company for promoting dramatic works by women+ focuses on how someone different than you can change your life.

The 28th season begins with the new musical Silhouettes by Jordan Ealey and Ari Afsar. This score-in-hand workshop was developed in the aftermath of the fall of Roe v. Wade, and examines a pivotal moment in American history through the intersecting lives of two women navigating the decision to have an abortion. Echo's managing and artistic director Kateri Cale directs, with Vonda K. Bowling as musical director.

In a joint statement, Ealey and Afsar say that Silhouettes was born from their need to process the emotional and political aftermath of Roe’s fall. “We continue to see that history is cyclical and equity is fleeting,” they say. “But when policy fails, art has the opportunity to step in. Silhouettes is a musical about choice, sisterhood, and intergenerational courage.”

They add that presenting the work in Dallas reflects their commitment to community-building in states like Texas, where bans and restrictions have made women and gender minorities particularly vulnerable. “We want this musical to be a safe and brave haven amid attempts to create a culture of fear and a reminder that people are not alone.”

It runs January 16-17, 2026, and admission is free, though a $20 donation is suggested.

The world premiere of You Must Wear A Hat by C. Meaker is next, and plugged-in Dallas theater fans might recognize the play from its reading at Kitchen Dog Theater in 2019.

Tuesday and Weeks make hats on the Great Barrier Reef, waiting for the world to end. It's described as "A play for two. And a rabbit."

C. “Meaks” Meaker (they/them) is a playwright, essayist, and teacher whose work often explores queerness, monstrosity, and the end of the world. Their plays have been performed and developed across the United States, including the Kennedy Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Annex Theatre (Seattle), Hub Theater (D.C.), Fat Theater Project (Chicago), and About Face (Chicago). They’re a two-year finalist for the Dramatist Guild National Fellows program and a recent finalist for the Jerome Hill Theater Arts Fellow.

You Must Wear a Hat runs February 27-March 14, 2026.

The season closes with The Roommate by Jen Silverman. The play was on Broadway in 2024 starring marquee names Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone.

In it, a divorced Midwesterner takes a roommate from The Bronx. A relationship evolves and secrets unfold into a darkly comedic exploration of life choices. It runs June 19-July 4, 2026.

All shows this season will be performed at the Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther Dr., in White Rock Lake Park.

Tickets range from Pay-What-You-Can to $40, with discounts available for students and seniors.

Additional events this season include Cake by the Lake on April 21, Echo's free birthday party fundraiser that also launches its reading series, Echo Reads.

Echo Reads runs April through September, presenting six plays in six month. All plays will be performed on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm, and then read the next day at different venues around the city.

Echo Offstage Podcasts is going monthly. The free podcast series interviews women+ who are making art and making a difference.

And Echo is already teasing its 29th season, which will begin in the fall of 2026 and run the more traditional September through August instead of the calendar year.

The season 29 opener is a co-production, the company mysteriously hints, involving three Dallas theaters, two shows, and an internationally known writer. We'll all just have to wait and see what this intriguing production might be.

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