Season Announcement

Dallas' Echo Theatre teases a very uneasy season with eerie premieres

Something eerie this way comes.

Painting by David Wm Cale

For its 26th season, Echo Theatre has on tap three premiere productions which "explore the off-putting, painful, inscrutable, and unexplainable aspects of humanity that would normally cause us to look away. This year, Echo Theatre stares them straight in the eye."

First up is Feeding the Cat, Incorrectly, Several Times Over by Shyama Nithiananda. This regional premiere is also a winner of the 2023 Texas Shout Out New Play Contest for Women+ BIPOC Authors, and will be directed by Katie Ibrahim.

Jo and Jen live parallel lives: They study medicine. They pay the rent. They fight with their partners. And they keep big secrets. When Jo's decision to keep a patient's secret backfires, she is forced to reckon with her responsibility to partners, strangers, and enemies alike.

There are content warnings for language, blood, adult themes, depictions of medical procedures, and discussions of domestic violence.

Performances at the Bath House Cultural Center run February 8-23, 2024.

Next is the world premiere of an Echo Theatre commissioned work Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper by Ann Timmons.

This new historical drama delves into the extraordinary life of feminist author and social reformer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Known to many for her short story The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte’s work explores the realities of womanhood at the turn of the 20th century. From adolescence to her deathbed, we follow Charlotte’s complicated journey to professional success, and experience firsthand how her ongoing struggle with depression and an unconventional life shaped her work.

There are content warnings for depression, post-partum depression, and suicidal ideation.

Directed by Caroline Hamilton, performances are at the Bath House Cultural Center May 8-25, 2024.

The season finishes with the secret keepers by Erin Malone Turner, a regional premiere and a winner of the 2023 Texas Shout Out New Play Contest for Women+ BIPOC Authors.

Trudging through life at The Right Path Academy is a group of silly, intense, thoughtful, difficult high school seniors. During their last semester at the run-down boarding school, nightmares plague the unspoken leader of the group, shadowy figures come and go, skeletons tumble out of their closets, and one of the teens goes missing. Will they graduate with more troubles than they started with?

This Southern gothic, coming-of-age play explores taking responsibility for our relationships, the messiness of growing up, and learning to let go of the things we’ve never truly had.

There are content warnings for discussions of self harm, disordered eating, and suspenseful sequences.

The play is directed by Sasha Maya Ada, and performances are at the Bath House Cultural Center September 12-28.

Echo Reads play readings, Echo Writes playwright-led workshops, and Echo Offstage podcasts will also be returning for patrons this season. Echo Reads will return this fall (2023) featuring the finalists from the Texas Shout Out playwriting competition.

Dates for Echo Writes and Echo Offstage will be announced at a later time.

Tickets and season subscriptions are available at EchoTheatre.org.

Theater Critic Picks

From Wilde to 'The Wiz': 8 unmissable July shows in North Texas

Second Thought Theatre presents Your Wife’s Dead Body

Photo courtesy of Second Thought Theatre

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Your instinct during the summer might be to hide out in an air-conditioned theater, and there are plenty of options to do exactly this month. But we would be remiss if we didn't remind you about a North Texas tradition: Shakespeare under the stars. Pack a picnic, bring a blanket, and watch The Bard (and this year Oscar Wilde) at Samuell-Grand Amphitheater with Shakespeare Dallas. Both shows opened in June, but continue through most of July.

Here are eight shows local shows, listed in order of start date:

The Importance of Being Earnest
Shakespeare Dallas, ~~through~~ ~~July 18~~ extended to July 26
This witty romantic comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895, tells the story of two men who assume the identities of a fictional man named Ernest. This leads them to each fall in love and encounter an assortment of comical problems along the way.

Othello
Shakespeare Dallas, through July 20
In this Shakespearean tragedy, Othello is at the peak of his powers: not only Venice's greatest general but also husband to the noble and beautiful Desdemona. But he does not know that in passing over his servant Iago for promotion, he has created a deadly but brilliant enemy. This production is set in an alternate-history version of the 1990s in which the Venetian empire is the predominant political, military, and economic power.

King Kirby
American Chronicle Theatre Co., July 4-12
This is the story of Jack "King of Comics" Kirby. The play follows him from the tough Jewish ghetto of Hell’s Kitchen in New York, to the harrowing battlefields of Normandy during WWII, to tense Senate hearings in the 1950s. Watch as he creates some of the most iconic heroes in pop culture: Captain America, Thor, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the New Gods, and countless others.

Your Wife’s Dead Body
Second Thought Theatre, July 9-26
Written by Second Though Theatre artistic associate Jenny Ledel in her playwriting premiere, the play takes place in the near future, as Jane takes advantage of a new AI technology that would extend her lifespan ... even if she's not around to see it for herself.

The Wiz
Broadway at the Bass, July 15-20
This all-new production of the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical returns “home” in an all-new pre-Broadway tour, the first one in 40 years. The groundbreaking twist on The Wizard of Oz changed the face of Broadway, from its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock, and finger-snapping '70s funk to its stirring tale of Dorothy’s journey to find her place in a contemporary world.

Noises Off
Mainstage Irving-Las Colinas, July 18-August 2
This play-within-a-play captures a touring theater troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance, and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Playwright Michael Frayn gives a window into the inner workings of theatre behind-the-scenes, progressing from flubbed lines and missed cues in the dress rehearsal to mounting friction between cast members in the final performance.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie
Uptown Players, July 18-August 3
Inspired by true events, this musical tells the inspiring story of Jamie New, a 16-year-old boy from Sheffield who dreams of becoming a drag queen. His loving mom showers him with endless support but it's not all rainbows for Jamie as his deadbeat dad and some ignorant school kids attempt to rain on his sensational aspirations.

Shucked
Broadway at the Bass, July 29-August 3
This Tony Award-winning musical comedy features a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn, a score by the Grammy Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and direction by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien. The corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy an appetite for great musical theater.

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