Theater Critic Picks

These are the 8 can't-miss shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for June

The Savage Seconds also has an interactive website.

Photo by Justin Locklear

UPDATE: As of June 3, "fine arts performance halls" are allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity. Jubilee Theatre's live production has since been added to the below list.

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Those in the performing arts keep innovating. You can still watch a livestreamed production, but now there are also drive-in performances, Zoom audiences, and recordings of works from the archives.

These Dallas-Fort Worth theater companies have definitely found creative ways to still deliver their programming, and some are even free (though we highly suggest donating the ticket price — or more — if you're in a position to do so).

Here are eight local shows to watch this month:

The Savage Seconds
Undermain Theatre and Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, streaming June 4-12
Conceived by Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear, this experimental opera centers on a young girl — sent home from boarding school during a great plague — whose coming of age is hijacked by her powerful but absent parents, malicious siblings, and the surreal confusion of sexuality. Exploring the genre of tragédie en musique and the concepts inherent in the Greek tragedies of Oedipus and Medea, The Savage Seconds looks at the effects of obsession and celebrity in a world catapulted into disarray by disease and political turmoil. Tickets can be purchased here, and the audience is encouraged to wander wander through the layers of the multi-media website created especially for the show, to deepen their curiosity, and bond with the story — you just might end up in the show.

22nd Annual New Works Festival
Kitchen Dog Theater, live on Zoom, June 6-28
The NWF is going completely digital this year, with KDT offering a series of six virtual readings as well as the 19th year of PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest, in collaboration with Junior Players. Showcasing some of the newest and most exciting voices and visions in contemporary theater, the winning plays are selected from almost 500 annual submissions from around the globe and will feature a strong cadre of DFW's most accomplished actors and directors. Tickets to the NWF can be purchased here, and free reservations to PUP Fest on June 6 can be made here.

The Immigrant
Theatre Three, streaming, June 15-28
Mark Harelik's play is getting an experimental streamed production, with a full cast, set, costumes, lighting and projection — all safely within social distancing guidelines, T3 promises. Streaming is limited to 200 for each of the 10 viewing opportunities, which begin at the published time and must be accessed within 30 minutes of the start time. The most widely produced play in the country in 1991, The Immigrant gently grapples with the thorny questions that plague the U.S.: who deserves to belong here, and what do we owe each other? Streaming access codes are $15 and available to purchase here.

How I Got Over
Jubilee Theatre, June 19-July 19
Premiering on the theater company's 39th birthday, Nate Jacobs' musical celebrates the legendary Queen of Gospel, Mahalia Jackson, and other gospel greats in the style of a revue. Note: Audience sizes will be limited to 50 percent capacity, and temperature screenings and face masks are required for all attendees.

Everything Will Be Fine
Prism Movement Theatre, drive-in at the Latino Cultural Center's parking lot, June 26-27 and July 11-12
Packed into 45 minutes and designed to be enjoyed from your car, Everything Will Be Fine is about a woman learning how to deal with a new world and her well-meaning (if slightly clueless) friends after experiencing an unthinkable loss. Once guests arrive, they will be directed to their assigned parking spots and instructed to tune in to a specific radio station to hear the show's electronic/rock music underscoring. Tickets are $30 per car and can be purchased here.

The Aftermath
Junior Players, June 26-28
This exploratory piece fuses together the concepts and stories from Junior Players' 2019 broadcast journalism project with playwriting, movement, and acting to manifest as a live production. This timely piece interweaves stories about gender identity, family pressures, power, and determination to create a zany series of events, based off challenges and experiences from the day-to-day lives that North Texas teens are currently facing. Pay-what-you-can tickets can be purchased here.

Take 10
Stage West, streaming now
Designed to help cure those corona blues, each installment in this online series features a bite-sized story performed by local artists. Watch all productions for free here.

Smile, Smile Again
Ochre House Theatre, streaming now
Written and directed by artist-in-residence Justin Locklear and performed in 2017, this original work is a thought-provoking tale of man's inhumanity toward his fellow man. There will also be a video-conference discussion with cast and crew to reflect on your experience, and how the show's impact has become relevant considering the current awareness of Black Lives Matter. You can watch for free on Ochre House's YouTube channel.

dance theater music

Theater News

Dallas' Kitchen Dog Theater unveils powerful 2026-2027 season lineup

Photo by Cameron Cobb

Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas will put on three mainstage productions for their 2026-2027 season.

Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas has revealed the lineup for the 2026-2027 season, featuring a slate of plays that boasts power players like kings, prime ministers, space force commanders, and would-be presidents.

According to a release, the theater company's 36th season — their "most powerful yet" — will consist of three mainstage productions at its new permanent home in the Design District, as well as the annual New Works Festival, featuring a readings series and the 26th annual D-PAC PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest.

The season will start with The Absentee by Julia Doolittle, running September 10-October 4, 2026. The play was the winner of the 2019-2020 Woodward/Newman Drama Award.

Far out in the Milky Way, “Beacons” serve as lighthouses for warping spaceships around the galaxy. When a U.S. Space Force ship explodes in the galaxy, the Operator finds herself alone in deep space, with only her ship’s AI for companionship. That is, until a persistent canvasser calls, desperate to convince her to vote absentee in the 2088 election.

As the Operator waits for the clean up to be over, she finds she has to come to terms with her isolation, grief, and her political voice.

The season's second production comes four months later, with Equivocation by Bill Cain, running February 4-28, 2027. In 1605 England, a terrorist plots to assassinate King James I and blow Parliament to kingdom come. Shagspeare (after a contemporary spelling of the Bard's name) is commissioned by the prime minister, to write the “true historie” of the plot. And it must have witches — the king wants witches.

But as Shag and the acting company of the Globe investigate the plot, they discover that the king's version of the story might, in fact, be a coverup. Shag and his actors are confronted with the ultimate moral and artistic dilemma. Speak truth to power and perhaps lose their heads? Or take the money and lie? Is there a third option? Equivocation?

A high-stakes political thriller with contemporary resonances, Equivocation gallops from the great Globe to the Tower of London to the halls of Parliament to the heart of Judith, Shag's younger daughter, who finds herself unexpectedly at the very heart of the political, dramatic and — ultimately — human mystery.

The final mainstage production of the season comes at the 2027 New Works Festival with Black Republican by KDT Artistic Company Member Jamal Gibran Sterling, running June 3-27, 2027.

Originally featured as a Staged Reading in the 2026 New Works Festival, the ambitious first play by Sterling centers on a Black Republican candidate on the national stage who finds his campaign threatened by an activist who challenges everything he claims to stand for. Their battle exposes uncomfortable truths about race, politics, and the stories we tell ourselves.

In addition to Black Republican, the 2027 New Works Festival will showcase four staged readings of some of the newest and most exciting Texas-based playwrights. Each reading will feature accomplished Dallas-Fort Worth actors and directors to highlight the breadth of talent in the area.

The final part of the festival is D-PAC PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest, featuring six staged readings of jury-selected plays written by Dallas-Fort Worth high school students and featuring student actors directed by area professionals. PUP Fest is the culmination of Dallas Playwriting Arts Collective (D-PAC), a partnership with Dallas ISD and Junior Players.

Kitchen Dog Theater offers two season subscription packages for their inaugural season in their new facility. The Kitchen Dog package includes a ticket to all three mainstage productions for any performance date for $90+ $8 fees for adults and $75 +$8 fees for students and seniors (ages 65+). The Saver Dog package includes a ticket to all three mainstage productions for Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays only. It is $60 + $8 fees for adults and $45 + $8 fees for students and seniors.

Both packages grant full access to the Staged Reading Series and PUP Fest. Subscribers also receive premium reserved seating for in-person performances, as well as subscriber-only discounts on additional single tickets, 2026 special events, and KDT merchandise.

Subscription packages are on sale now, and single tickets for each show will go on sale on Monday, August 24, at kitchendogtheater.org.

design district kitchen dog theater new works festival performing-arts plays theater