Let's Get Involved

Dallas-Fort Worth theaters turn spotlight on community with all-encompassing outreach programs

College students can apprentice on The Play That Goes Wrong at Stage West.

Photo by Jeremy Daniel

Theater companies in both Dallas and Fort Worth are putting their communities first with unique outreach programs for 2023, spanning middle school to retirement age.

First up is Bishop Arts Theatre Center in Dallas, which is offering a free 12-week program for girls of color ages 12-17 that focuses on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math).

Called Girls of Color Discovering STEAM, it will provide interactive projects and hands-on learning from 6-7 pm each Thursday evening, January 12-April 6.

After identifying a social issue that they are passionate about, kids will get to explore their interest in software engineering by developing a solution, creating a story board, and then coding their own story.

You can sign up here.

Meanwhile, Stage West in Fort Worth has formalized a partnership with retirement community The Stayton to start a performance-oriented class led by area actress and instructor Linda Leonard. Interested residents can join The Stayton Community Players, which will have small performances for other residents a few times a year.

Stage West has long wanted to take part in a venture that facilitated access to performing arts for retirees as a positive creative and social outlet. An existing drama club at The Stayton was the springboard for this new collaboration.

Leonard has previously directed for the Dallas Library Project, bringing theater to many senior living communities. "She loves collaboration and enlivening and encouraging artists of all ages to find or rediscover their inner artist," reads the release.

You can keep up with The Stayton Community Players here.

Stage West is also bringing back its Design Apprenticeship Program, a pre-professional training program for college students in the areas of sound, scenic, and costume design. A fourth section for stage management has been added for this year.

The Design Apprenticeship Program launched in 2022 to give theater-makers of tomorrow the vital skills needed to succeed in a professional setting.

Participants meet with a mentor in their respective design area to create work for a professional portfolio, and have a hands-on learning experience during the design process of a production.

"For the foreseeable future," the release notes, "the program will center around diversity, equity, and inclusion — with a strong emphasis on recruiting women, students of color, the LGBTQ community, and other under-represented groups."

Stage West will seek three students in each area of study as they actively engage in the pre-production and rehearsal process of season programming. Upcoming participating shows are The Play That Goes Wrong and Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical.

The students chosen for this program will also have the opportunity to collaborate with Stage West on Festival of the Kid and the Summer Conservatory.

College students interested in participating in the Design Apprenticeship Program can reach out to Tonya@stagewest.org.

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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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