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Theater Critic Picks

12 must-see shows in Dallas theater for April — plus 1 bonus

Lindsey Wilson
Apr 1, 2025 | 2:27 pm
Soul Rep Theatre Company presents Pretty Fire
Soul Rep Theatre Company opens "Pretty Fire" on April 11.
Photo by Thaddeus Jefferson

Normally this list is reserved for productions opening during the month, but every now and then we make an exception. In this case, it's the touring theatrical experience Darkfield, currently parked right outside the AT&T Performing Arts Center in three giant shipping containers, and truly unlike anything else, onstage or off. It's immersive, but you aren't expected to move for the duration of each of the three presentations. One is performed in complete darkness. All rely on eerily accurate sound design — piped in through individual headphones — to create bizarre worlds that are still ... somehow familiar?

Check out Darkfield and then these 12 local shows, listed in order of start date:

Darkfield: Séance, Flight, and Coma
ATTPAC & Realscape Productions, through May 4
Darkfield offers audiences a unique, immersive theatrical experience that blurs the line between reality and imagination. There are three experiences: Séance, Flight, and Coma, each staged within a custom-built shipping container. The pitch-black environments utilize 360-degree binaural sound and innovative sensory effects to create immersive worlds that challenge perceptions and evoke deep emotional responses.

Dixie's Tupperware Party
Performing Arts Fort Worth, April 2-6
Meet Dixie Longate, the fast-talking, gum-chewing, ginger-haired Alabama gal who is bringing your grandma’s Tupperware party into the 21st century. Dixie demonstrates the many alternative uses for the iconic plastic kitchen staple while telling outrageously funny tales, encouraging audience participation, and offering a little bit of empowerment and homespun wisdom.

Thunder Knocking on the Door
Jubilee Theatre, April 4-May 4
Set against a backdrop of myth and magic, Thunder Knocking on the Door follows the journey of two families whose lives become intertwined by fate and music. As the mystical blues guitarist Marvell Thunder and the mysterious Jaguar Man vie for supremacy in a musical duel, the characters grapple with love, loss, and the power of redemption.

Pretty Fire
Soul Rep Theatre Company, April 11-19
This one-woman show explores beautiful, funny, dark, and exhilarating vignettes tracing the life of playwright Charlayne Woodard, from a premature birth to a joyous maturity at 11 years old. The play is a “rare autobiographical tour de force” painting one of the most positive pictures of the Black experience on stage.

Mamma Mia!
Broadway Dallas, April 15-27
Set on a Greek island paradise where the sun always shines, a tale of love, friendship, and identity is beautifully told through the timeless hits of ABBA. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago.

Mean Girls
Broadway at the Center, April 17-19
Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung.

Alice
Plague Mask Players, April 17-27
Ara Vito's movement and storytelling-focused adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is told through the lens of a female playwright and ensemble cast of all female and non-binary performers. Taking place in Wyly Theatre's Studio Theatre, the production is part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project.

The Hatmaker's Wife
Circle Theatre, April 17-May 10
When a young woman and her boyfriend move into their new home‭, ‬they uncover the magical history of its previous occupants‭: ‬a distracted hatmaker and his long-suffering wife‭, ‬who has left him‭, ‬taking his beloved hat along with her‭. ‬Through a whimsical and surreal narrative‭, ‬Lauren Yee's play redefines the concepts of family‭, ‬home‭, ‬and love‭, ‬bending time and space in delightful ways‭.‬

Rift, or White Lies
Amphibian Stage, April 18-May 12
Two brothers: lives divided, bound by blood. One is a progressive writer, the other a convicted murderer and member of an alt-right prison gang. As estranged brothers, they face their deep differences and uncover a shared painful past. Can they heal their bond, or will their clashing beliefs keep them apart? In this unique production, the actors switch roles throughout the run.

Healed
Second Thought Theatre, April 23-May 10
Opening Second Thought Theatre’s 21st season is Blake Hackler’s ruthlessly captivating story of Gail, who has been sick for 25 years. Every doctor, every test, every treatment — none of it has worked. Now, with nothing left to lose, she sells everything and heads to a radical health center in the Texas Hill Country, run by the enigmatic and controversial Dr. T. Will this be her cure, her salvation — or something else entirely?

The Grown-Ups
Kitchen Dog Theater, April 24-May 11
Following a group of camp counselors trying to mold the leaders of tomorrow when tomorrow is looking bleaker and bleaker, The Grown-Ups explores the traditions that change us, what it takes for us to change them, and how to change yourself when you’re hopelessly, tragically not prepared for this. Will be performed at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater.

The Mystery of Irma Vep
Theatre Three, April 24-May 18
Set in a spooky English manor, The Mystery of Irma Vep is a fast-paced and campy parody by Charles Ludlam featuring two actors who portray an array of eccentric characters, including mysterious housekeeper, a suspicious lord, and various supernatural beings. As the story unfolds, audiences are treated to a whirlwind of gothic melodrama, vampire lore, and supernatural shenanigans.

Xanadu
Uptown Players, April 25-May 4
Set in the magical 1980s, Xanadu follows the journey of a Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California, on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time: the first roller disco.

national tour musical mamma mia mean girls play openings theater
news/arts

A Familiar Face

Dallas Theater Center names Jaime Castañeda as new artistic director

Lindsey Wilson
Dec 17, 2025 | 12:30 pm
Jaime Castañeda
Photo courtesy of Dallas Theater Center
Jaime Castañeda is the Tony-winning theater's new artistic director.

The Tony Award-winning Dallas Theater Center has found its next artistic director: Jaime Castañeda, who has a long history with both DTC and North Texas, will become the regional theater's sixth artistic director beginning July 2026. The 2026-27 season will be the first chosen by him.

Jonathan Norton, DTC’s resident playwright, is currently serving as interim artistic director and will continue to lead the remainder of the 2025-26 season, which culminates in the world premiere of his play Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem in May.

“DTC is committed to artistic excellence and community engagement, and we believe Jaime’s experience, creativity, bold vision, and proven leadership, coupled with his dedication to innovation, will guide DTC into an exciting new chapter in the life of the theater," says board chair Lynn Pride Richardson in a release.

In 2012, Castañeda directed DTC’s production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz. But he began his career more than 20 years ago in Dallas-Fort Worth by founding Firestarter Productions while still attending Texas Christian University. In addition to directing at DTC, other local theater credits include Kitchen Dog Theater, Amphibian Stage, and Circle Theatre. Castañeda is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Drama League Directing Fellowship, and holds a BFA from Texas Christian University and an MFA in Directing from University of Texas at Austin.

Most recently, Castañeda directed at such leading theaters across the country as American Conservatory Theater, South Coast Repertory, Huntington Theatre Company, and La Jolla Playhouse, where he previously served as associate artistic director from 2014-2018. He was also artistic associate at Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company from 2009-2014.

"Jaime brings a bold, visceral artistic vision, a deep commitment to new voices, and a collaborative leadership style that inspires artists and audiences alike,” says DTC executive director Kevin Moriarty. “With his Texas roots and national experience, I am thrilled to welcome him home as DTC’s new Enloe/Rose artistic director. I have known and admired his work since 2007, when he was already one of the most exciting emerging directors in North Texas, and I later saw him create unforgettable work for DTC on the Wyly stage and at leading theaters nationwide.”

As artistic director, Castañeda will lead the theater’s artistic vision, direct and produce plays and musicals, oversee DTC’s Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company, and partner with Moriarty, the staff, and the board of trustees to advance DTC’s mission, vision, and values.

Castañeda joins a distinguished line of artistic leadership at Dallas Theater Center, including founding artistic director Paul Baker, Adrian Hall, Ken Bryant, Richard Hamburger, and Moriarty, who served as artistic director from 2007-2022.

“We are extremely pleased with a successful national search that brings Jaime to Dallas Theater Center,” says DTC board member Chris Luna. “His energy is contagious and he understands Texas and Dallas. We look forward to collaborating with Jaime as he continues his innovative approach to regional theater.”

Castañeda was selected for the role following a national search led by Management Consultants for the Arts. The search committee was co-chaired by Luna and Richardson, and included Moriarty, Norton, Jennifer Altabef, Diane Brierley, Lauren Embrey, Sam Holland (Dean, SMU Meadows School of the Arts), Sharron Hunt, Randy Kender, Julie Kosnik, Deborah McMurray, Sam Megally, Liz Mikel (DTC Brierley Resident Acting Company member), Andy Smith, Lily Weiss (executive director, Dallas Arts District) and Donna Wilhelm.

“Growing up in Texas, Dallas Theater Center was one of the first places where I saw what professional theater and excellence looked like,” Castañeda says. “I’m thrilled to come back and build on the history of artists and leaders who have been a part of this organization. I’m eager to join Kevin, the board, and our staff to create lasting theatrical experiences for our audiences.”

Dallas Theater Center's current production of A Christmas Carol runs through December 27 at the Wyly Theatre.

dallas theater center jaime castañeda kevin moriarty theater
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