Season Announcement
Dallas' Echo Theatre teases a very uneasy season with eerie premieres
Something eerie this way comes.
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 Overby 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 Wallpaperby 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 keepersby 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.
