Sad News

Socially conscious Dallas teen theater company closing after 8 years

Cry Havoc Theater Company presents Endlings

Endlings will be Cry Havoc's final production.

Photo by Karen Almond

Unconventional youth theater company Cry Havoc will cease creating new productions beginning in September 2022.

Founder and artistic director Mara Richards Bim shared the news in an email to subscribers, stating that an upcoming out-of-state move to be closer to family and nature is the main reason for the closure.

"When I launched Cry Havoc in the fall of 2014, I intended to devote a season of my life to it before embarking on other endeavors," Bim writes. "I hoped that Cry Havoc would inspire young artists to embrace devised theater as a way to create important conversations within the community and would be something they would carry with them long after leaving the organization. And I hoped that Dallas audiences would be challenged to see art created by young people in a whole new light.

"I am immensely proud of the work we (the many professional and teen artists of Cry Havoc) have accomplished over the last 8 years. We have exceeded all hopes and expectations, we have opened minds and hearts in Dallas and beyond, and we have raised the bar nationally for what youth theater can look like. It has been a very beautiful season."

Bim also noted that the decision to close was a natural one between her and the board of directors, given her impending relocation.

Cry Havoc's body of work includes 14 original theater pieces, all devised and/or created by its young artists with assistance from professionals. The productions tackle challenging issues like gun control, gender roles, and immigration, with the idea that new, younger voices and perspectives might inspire change in the community.

In 2018, Babel received two DFW Theater Critics Forum Awards and in 2019, Crossing the Line received three more.

During its final season, Cry Havoc will present four shows:

Maya: The Illusion We Live, a collaboration with Indique Dance Company that is part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center's 2021-22 Elevator Project. Cry Havoc’s portion is choreographed by Emily Bernet. The show will run April 14-16, 2022, at the Studio Theatre.
Women of Troy, directed by Sheridan Singleton, retells the story of The Trojan Women against the backdrop of SB8, also known as "the heartbeat bill." Women of Troy, in partnership with Planned Parenthood of Greater Dallas, will play July 7-17, 2022, at South Side on Lamar.
The Art of Broken Things, directed by Bim, explores the mental health challenges facing young people today. It is presented in partnership with Okay to Say, an award-winning public awareness campaign from Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, and will play in late July in the Dallas Arts District (dates and exact location to be announced soon).
Endlings, also directed by Bim, explores climate grief and our connection to the natural world. In the spring of 2020 as the pandemic raged, Bim and the teens of Cry Havoc collected interviews with indigenous peoples, climate scientists, and climate activists on our relationship to the natural world. Endlings was then released as a radio play, but has never been produced live. In partnership with Dallas Children's Theater, Cry Havoc will rework, rewrite, and finally present Endlings live in February 2023 as its last show.

To learn more about Cry Havoc Theater Company and its remaining shows, visit the website.

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All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR

Cure for Paranoia/Facebook

As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.

Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.

They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.

Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.

Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)

Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.

In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.

McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.

“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”

Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.

"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.

McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.

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