We’re in a politically charged season, both off stage and on stage. Dallas-Fort Worth theater and dance artists reflect the nation’s divided electorate and tackle hot-button issues such as immigration, women’s rights, climate change, America’s role in global affairs, and the future of American democracy. I’m here. History often serves as a backdrop.
The local premiere of Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me, which recently opened at Stage West, hammers home these themes. The work is based on the playwright’s experiences as a young debater. Schreck focused on winning prize money in such contests in college. She wrote the show in 2017, portraying both her teenage and adult selves.
The play delves into the rights that are protected in theory by the Constitution, particularly the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments, but not always in practice. Schreck tells the story of a domestically abused mother and grandmother, her own abortion, and the early death due to depression of her German great-grandmother, who came to America as a mail-order bride.
Megan Noble stars as Heidi Schreck in Stage West Theater’s production of the playwright’s What the Constitution Means to Me. (Evan Michael Woods)
“There’s no denying that the decision to do a show about what the Constitution means to me had everything to do with the election,” said Stage West executive producer and director Dana Schultz. “It felt like a breath of fresh air, not affiliated with any political party, to look at the debate about who is meant to be included in ‘We the People’ with fresh eyes.”
In 2019, his Broadway productions of What the Constitution Means to Me and Shrek were nominated for Tony Awards. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama that same year. According to research by American Theater magazine, there are 16 productions scheduled for the 2024-25 season, more than any other play. Last season was also the most produced program in the country.
“I am thrilled to receive this honor at a time when people are full of energy and passion and feel like they can take their democracy into their own hands,” Schreck told American Theater. I’m doing it,” he said.
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Her comments reflect the positive thinking of the character Heidi, which is one of the more notable features of her play. “This play certainly deals with some heavy themes,” says Schultes. “But overall, I think this play is a joyful celebration of our country.”
Thomas (Carson Wright) is taken aback by actress Vanda (Catherine Dubord), who is auditioning for his play Venus in Furs. (Jeffrey Schmidt)
As with “What the Constitution Means to Me,” the treatment of women is at the heart of David Ives’ Venus in Furs, a sadomasochistic comedy that closes Sunday in Theater 3’s season opener. It’s the best locally produced play so far this season.
In it, a scantily clad actress (the gorgeous Catherine Dubord) auditions for a role in the film adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s famous novel, and meets the director (Carson Wright, who plays her defense attorney) to discuss domination and submission. Reverse his thoughts about.
The touring Broadway musical company, which AT&T Performing Arts Center produced in September, qualifies as a companion of sorts, as the protagonist resists the expected path to marriage chosen by his friends. This production has a clever set design that positions the cast symbolically.
Dancer and choreographer Jennifer Mabus is one of the performers in Over the Bridge Arts’ Burning Woman. (Francisco Graciano)
Several upcoming projects include Avant Chamber Ballet’s Women’s Choreography Project (February 14-15) and Texas Ballet Theater’s International Women (February 21-23, February 28-March 2). A woman takes center stage in a dance show. Meanwhile, Over the Bridge Arts’ annual “Burning Woman” (October 25-26) and Pegasus Contemporary Ballet’s immersive fundraiser “Forever for a Moment” (November 9) (Japan) will feature interdisciplinary programs.
Bombshell Dance Project’s new Lord of the Flies (October 25-26) also centers on the perspectives of seven female performers.
“We feel this work is relevant to our times and the political atmosphere in the midst of this election,” Bombshell artistic directors Emily Burnett and Taylor Rodman said in an email in response to questions about Fries. I feel like we have a special connection.” “We specifically connected to the novel’s themes of fear and division and used that as a jumping off point. We are adapting classic characters into adult women, and that’s what we want to see in our story. It plays an important role.”
Shaden Hashem and Emily Barnett are two of the performers in Bombshell Dance Project’s adaptation of Lord of the Flies. (Mae Haines)
This dance theater piece combines text and movement by Julia Lederer, whose play “I Am An Island” opened ATTPAC’s Elevator Project season last month. This work, produced by Watering Hole Collective, addresses another pressing issue: climate change. Bombshells met Lederer at a former Island workshop.
Among this season’s remaining Elevator Project productions is Plague Mask Players’ Spring 2025 production of Alice (April 17-27); The production is Ala Vito’s adaptation of the classic Lewis Carroll story, with a cast of women and non-binary performers.
Last weekend, the series unveiled Hazards by Artists Without Borders, which depicts the harrowing journeys of refugees, asylum seekers and others displaced by conflict, violence and natural disasters.
Other examples of politically-minded productions this fall include the best three shows of the Latinidades Festival, which was just completed at Teatro Cala Mia. All were transfixed by the execution, which was interdisciplinary and full of ideas about the nature of American hegemony.
Miami-based theater company Combat Hippie’s “Amal” depicts the aftermath of war, set to punk music. (Romaine Maurice)
Amal, a Miami combat hippie troupe made up of Puerto Rican veterans, examines the history of the long and checkered relationship between the United States and the Caribbean Commonwealth so powerfully that it comes with a PTSD-triggering warning.
San Francisco’s La Mezcla, meanwhile, made use of Mexican dance and music styles to explore the exploitation of immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, with a theme of “ghost labor.”
San Francisco’s La Mezcla, a Chicana group of actors, musicians, and dancers, brought “Ghostly Labor” to the Latinidads Festival at Teatro Cala Mia. (Domonique S. Washington)
Finally, four groups – Cala Mia, Dallas’ Frame Foundation, New Orleans’ Original Backshop, and Mexico’s Mulatto Teatro – come together for Imaya Flamenco, which brings together the Spanish art form and the Spanish art form in an exhibition celebrating cross-cultural unity. Connected to African roots.
Two of Soul Rep Theater’s shows this season also have a political bent. Based on a true story from the early 19th century, “African Company Presents Richard III” (Feb. 7-Feb. 23) pits two New York theater companies against each other, and a white theater owner decides to buy Shakespeare’s historical plays. attempts to cancel a competing performance. Drama.
The Soul Rep season begins next June with Jordan E. Cooper’s Tony Award-nominated alternate reality drama Ain’t No Mo, about a government program that gives black citizens one-way tickets to Africa. It ends with.
Undermain Theater presents the Dallas premiere (February 27-3 23rd of the month).
Also in early 2025, Oak Cliff Arts Stillery will create Welcome Mat 2 — People 0, an immersive experience about cultural intolerance, at Fair Park. Artstillery is currently presenting “The Life of AFJ,” a solo exhibition by Abel Flores Jr., in its space on Fort Worth Avenue (through November 2nd). The actor and performance artist plays his alter ego, a ruthless presidential candidate.
But this performing arts season isn’t all about politics, at least not all that directly. The most promising shows include Undermain’s Exit the King (October 31-November 24), Ionesco’s absurdist play about a dying ruler, and Classic Theater with artistic director・Project productions include “Hamlet” (October 25th to November 23rd). Joey Folsom will be at the helm.
Cast (Evan Michael Woods) of “The Amazing, Wonderful, and Spectacular Truth of Juan Garcia,” an adaptation of the 17th century play “La Verdad Sospecosa” by Kathleen Culebro, Artistic Director of Amphibian Stage
Also, Amphibian Stage Artistic Director Kathleen Culebro’s film adaptation of the wide-ranging 17th-century comedy about a young man who tries to trick a beautiful woman into marrying him, “The Amazing, Wonderful, and Spectacular Truth of Juan García.” (until November 3) will also be performed. woman.
One of this season’s most anticipated productions is Theater 3’s “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” (November 29-December 29). This musical, by Dave Malloy, is based on a 70-page excerpt from Tolstoy’s 1869 novel. war and peace. They want to serve vodka.
On the dance side, presenter TITAS/Dance Unbound has assembled a lineup centered around master choreographers who started in the 1980s. That includes groups led by Mark Morris (Nov. 23), Alonzo King (Dec. 13) and Doug Vallone (May 23).
Mark Morris Dance Group in Morris’ “The Look of Love,” inspired by the music of Burt Bacharach. The production will be performed in Dallas as part of the TITAS/Dance Unbound season. (David Bazemore / David Bazemore Photo)
The TITAS season began with new and old works from Twyla Tharp. One of the new pieces, “Ballet Master,” ends with John Selyer performing a breathtaking feat of balance, recalling the theme of an aging choreographer struggling to regain his strength.
TITAS also collaborates with the New Zealand indigenous Okareka Dance Company (November 1-2), Ballet Hispanico (January 24-25), which will perform a new version of Carmen, and Seattle contemporary theater company Wim Whim (April 11), and is booking an all-male theater company. , audience favorite Les Ballets Trocadéro de Monte Carlo (May 2-3) tackles pointe in drag.
TITAS/Dance Unbound will be presenting Ballet Hispánico’s “Carmen Macchia” (Marius Fischium).
“We are extremely fortunate to have such an amazing lineup of diverse artists in one season,” says TITAS Director Charles Santos. “This speaks to Dallas’ standing on the international stage.”
Bruce Wood Dance, meanwhile, includes Czech choreographer Jiri Kylián’s “Wanderer’s Song,” a male duet from American choreographer Lar Lubovic’s Dvořák Serenade, and Wood’s “Red” and “Piazzolla de The season will open from November 15th to 17th at “Prisa”. In a wonderful coincidence, Wood, Morris and Vallone danced together in Lubovich’s company in the early ’80s.
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What the Constitution Means to Me runs through Nov. 3 at 821 W. Vickery Blvd. in Fort Worth. From $38 to $48. stagewest.org.
“The Amazing, Wonderful, and Spectacular Truth of Juan Garcia” runs through Nov. 3 at 120 S. Main Street in Fort Worth. From $15 to $60. amphibianstage.com.
“Fries” runs Oct. 25-26 at Wiley Studio Theater (2400 Flora St). $35-$50. bombdanceproject.com.
Burning Woman will be held Oct. 25-26 at Artstillery, 723 Fort Worth Ave. $20. overthebridgearts.org.
“Hamlet” will run from October 25th to November. 23 at the Stone Cottage, 15650 Addison Road, Addison. classictheaterproject.com.
