Undermain Theatre has announced the slate of productions its 2014-2015 season, and it's full of intriguing theater not yet seen in Dallas-Fort Worth. That's because all four productions are having their regional premieres at Undermain, and one — Gordon Dahlquist's Tomorrow Come Today — is a world premiere.
That world premiere kicks off the season September 20. Tomorrow Come Today is an out-there-sounding sci-fi drama set in a not-too-distant future where the wealthy can cheat death by switching to newer, healthier bodies. The one thing they can't control, however, is the ticking clock of climate change, which may not leave them an Earth worth inhabiting. It runs through October 11.
Undermain artistic director Katharine Owens directs the play, and she says the play requires at least six actors of both genders trading off the two lead roles as the characters keep trying to get younger and younger.
Next up is The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls by Meg Miroshnik. Running November 15-December 6, it's a dark comedy about Annie, a 20-year-old American who comes to Russia for business classes but ends up getting a crash course in Russian glitz and corruption from three new friends.
The fantastical story has the four girls fighting evil potatoes, a ferocious bear and a wicked witch, with only their wits, an axe and a closet full of stilettos to help them.
Undermain's first production of 2015 is The Flick, which runs January 17-February 7. Written by Annie Baker, it's the most highly acclaimed play of the four, as it won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, along with a Best Play award from the New York Critics Circle.
Set in a run-down movie theater in Massachusetts, it follows three underpaid employees whose tiny battles and big heartbreaks become more gripping than the second-rate movies they show.
The season comes to a close with Colm Tóibín's one-woman show, The Testament of Mary, running March 21-April 11. Nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Play, it transforms Jesus' mother from her serene depiction in religious art into an actual flesh-and-blood woman who refuses to endorse the official version of the events surrounding Jesus' death.
Undermain also continues the popular Undermain Reads series at Dallas Museum of Art, in which they do staged readings of rare works from around the world. The dates and titles of those readings have yet to be announced.
Season passes, which give buyers unlimited attendance to all Undermain productions, and individual tickets are available on the theater's website or by calling 214-747-5515.
The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, written by Meg Miroshnik, runs November 15-December 6 at Undermain Theatre.
