Season Announcement

Imprint Theatreworks plots fresh works and collabs for 2022 season

A scene from Imprint's We Are Pussy Riot, Or Everything Is P.R.

Photo courtesy of Imprint Theatreworks

For its fourth season, titled "Expose: Escape," Imprint Theatreworks will feature a brand-new annual fundraising experience, an electrifying musical, a festival dedicated to amplifying new works, a world-premiere staged reading, an exciting new partnership with a veteran theater company, an expanded initiative for developing new works, and one show that can't be announced until 2022.

"When the pandemic hit, Imprint was poised to present our boldest season yet, only to find a constant state of reset," says artistic director Ashley H. White. "In this period, Imprint has rediscovered, redefined, and boldly recommitted to our mission of providing unique and thought-provoking theatrical experiences to unite and engage our community through an ensemble-based approach."

It kicks off in January with a retrospective/introspective rock experience entitled Reverb. Conceived by White, with music direction by Mark Mullino and choreography by Quintin Jones, Reverb will unite past Imprint cast members with new community members "for an unforgettable weekend of performance experiences to raise funds for Imprint's coming season." It runs January 27-29, 2022, at the Bath House Cultural Center.

An invite-only preview to the world premiere workshop reading of Monster is next, February 11-14, 2022. With a book by Dani Holway and music by Lady Gaga, Monster follows Lady, an abruptly sought-after superstar, in her gruesome pursuit of recognition, fulfillment, and universal love.

March 30-April 2, 2022, will be the fifth annual First Impressions: Festival for Local Playwrights. Since launching in 2018, First Impressions has given birth to 37 new works from DFW-based artists, several of which have continued development and received further support around the country.

This year's festival is currently set to be both online and in-person. Imprint will also be offering a First Impressions Initiative, providing access and resources for local playwrights to have table readings and staged readings throughout the full season.

Mainstage programming returns in May with an exciting partnership for Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa From the German SUDWESTAFRIKA, Between the Years 1884-1915.

Taking place largely in a rehearsal room that descends from collaborative to absurd, a group of idealistic actors — three black and three white — attempt to recreate the extinction of the Herero tribe at the hands of their German colonizers. We Are Proud to Present… is part of the Golden Collection, a lexicon featuring 15 plays by prominent Black playwrights established by Jeremy O. Harris.

Directed by Quintin Jones, Jr. in his directorial debut, the production is in partnership with Soul Rep Theatre and runs May 19-June 4, 2022.

35MM by Ryan Scott Oliver rounds out the mainstage season. Based on photographs by Matthew Murphy, this sensory explosion of movement, song, and visual art will be directed by White, assistant directed by Mark Quach, and music directed by Vonda K. Bowling. It runs October 27-November 12, 2022.

A yet-to-be-announced summer mainstage production will be revealed on January 27, 2022.

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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