Season Announcement

Dallas' Kitchen Dog Theater packs 2022-23 season with premieres

The Sound Inside played Broadway in 2019.

Photo by Jeremy Daniel

For its 32nd season, Kitchen Dog Theater has programmed two regional premieres, one world premiere, and the 25th anniversary of its New Works Festival, which nurtures talent from Texas and beyond.

First up is The Sound Inside by Adam Rapp, directed by KDT co-artistic director Tina Parker.

In the 17 years since she was last published, novelist Bella Baird has almost completely isolated herself from the world. But things change when she meets Christopher, a brilliant but enigmatic student in her creative writing class at Yale.

As their friendship deepens, their lives and the stories they tell about themselves become intertwined in unpredictable ways, leading to a shocking request. The play was nominated for six 2020 Tony Awards, including Best Play. It runs November 3-20, 2022.

Man Cave by John J. Caswell Jr. is next, directed by KDT artistic company member Christie Vela.

Imaculada gathers her friends in a fortress-like mansion belonging to her absent employer, a wealthy Republican Congressman. Together the four women convert his luxurious basement man cave into their own spiritual war room and protective sanctuary from the violence of men, both real and supernatural. It runs February 16-March 5, 2023.

For the landmark 25th annual celebration of the best voices from DFW and beyond, Kitchen Dog has made a killer "mix tape" of festivals past, complete with commissions, staged readings of the hottest new plays around, and the 22nd anniversary of DPAC PUP Fest.

2023 New Works Festival events include the mainstage, world-premiere production of The Last Truck Stop by Crystal Jackson, directed by KDT co-artistic director Christopher Carlos.

A tenacious trucker-turned-truck-stop-owner and her poetic, gun-toting postal carrier debate staying or going when their desert town becomes a no-go zone. Should they trust the colorful stranger who arrives with a story they desperately want to believe? It runs June 8-June 25, 2023.

The staged reading series and DPAC PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest will also take place in June 2023, with directors and playwrights to be announced.

All performances will take place at the Trinity River Arts Center.

A KDT season subscription is $60 for adults and $45 for students/seniors (65 and up) and can be purchased at www.kitchendogtheater.org or by calling 214-953-1055.

theater

Season Announcement

Kitchen Dog Theater unleashes immersive 2025 season in new Dallas space

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Safe at Home

Photo by Jordan Fraker

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Seven years after announcing it had purchased a building in the Design District, Kitchen Dog Theater is finally ready to move into its new home.

The third and final production of its 2025 season — the theater company's 34th — will take place all around the new "Doghouse." The other two productions will follow the immersive format at non-traditional performance spaces that was established last season.

With three fully produced events that each run the gambit from captivating and gutsy to heartfelt and hilarious, the monthly New Works Festival Staged Readings Series returns, as does the 23rd annual PUP Fest, nurturing high school talent from all over DFW.

First up is the area premiere of Will Eno's Wakey, Wakey, directed by KDT's artistic director Tina Parker and starring KDT co-artistic director Christopher Carlos.

"Is it now? I thought I had more time." These first words in Will Eno's play are spoken by Guy, a man who knows, like all of us on some level, that he is about to die. The play questions why we are here and the journeys that everyone takes to eventually get to the same place. Performances will take place at Expo Park, 840 Exposition Avenue, and run February 7-23, 2025.

Production No. 2 is full of mystery: The title and performance location will be announced soon and run in March/April 2025.

The Happiness Gymby Ken Weitzman closes out the season in August 2025 (exact dates TBA).

This regional premiere is a joyous, experiential event based on the science of well-being. Participants take part in a curated theatrical experience meant to boost their sense of happiness, joy, and feelings of connection. This one-of-a-kind project will be the soft opening to Kitchen Dog’s new theater and will take place all over the entire facility, giving patrons unparalleled access to KDT’s new home.

From March to July 2025, the 26th annual 2025 New Works Festival will showcase four-to-five staged readings of the newest and most exciting local and regional playwrights working in contemporary theater today. Each reading will feature some of DFW's most accomplished actors and directors and will take place at different venues across DFW.

For its 23rd annual event, PUP Fest will feature six staged readings of jury-selected plays written by DFW high school students, featuring student actors directed by area professional directors. PUP Fest is the culminating event of Dallas Playwriting Arts Collective (D-PAC), a partnership with Dallas ISD and Junior Players. Performance location is TBA, but the event will happen June 7, 2025.

For more information, visit kitchendogtheater.org or call 214-953-1055.

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