Travel now back to the 5th century B.C., to the Theatre of Dionysus in ancient Greece. In the shadow of the Parthenon, a couple strolls out of opening night of a new satirical comedy (with satyrs) by early Greek playwright Aristophanes. Scowling, the woman turns to her date and says,…
Don’t let the title fool you. Fix Me, Jesus, the new play by Helen Sneed that just got its premiere at Theatre Three, isn’t about religion. Not unless you put your faith in shopping as an answer to prayer and think of the NorthPark Center Neiman Marcus as the Vatican…
Saffron Herndon and her dad, Steve, are at Uncle Uber’s right next to Dallas Comedy House in Deep Ellum on a Saturday afternoon. The 10-year-old approaches me and shakes my hand. We immediately begin discussing music, including the band The Cure. I embarrassingly tell her I’m unfamiliar with them. “You’re…
The message of Matilda the Musical is that words have power. How awful then that at the London-to-Broadway-to-national-tour production that opened Thursday night at the Winspear Opera House the audience was powerless to understand most of the words coming off the stage. It’s not a microphone issue; they actors are…
Imagine a world in which the actors are the greatest rebels and theater is contraband. This is the world of Meg Miroshink’s new play, The Droll (Or, a Stage Play about the END of Theatre), which has its world premiere at Undermain Theatre Saturday. Inpspired by the Puritan Interregnum in…
Bill Burr’s has a career worth bragging about. He’s more than just a very funny and clever stand-up comedian with a legion of dedicated fans who pack houses like The Majestic Theatre, which they will do tonight when he steps out on the stage at 8 p.m. He has released…
When talking about Dry Land, director Sarah Hamilton explains, “It’s not necessarily an abortion play, but it’s clear from the first scene that an abortion is going to happen.” The latest show from Upstart Productions, which opens Friday night in a cavernous warehouse space near Trinity Groves, is a female…
This is your bat signal. If, like me, you need rescuing from the dumbed-down high-dollar hillbilly hogwash passing itself off as an important “world premiere” right now at that shiny Arts District venue, then The Adventures of Flo and Greg at the humble Bath House Cultural Center is here to…
If Moonshine:That Hee Haw Musical is redundant, predictable and precariously sexist, the audience doesn’t seem to mind. Taking its title from the long-running variety television show, it’s roughly five minutes into the story that the ending becomes clear and five minutes after that when the heroine looks more like a…
Consider Dracula––really consider him. Despite what commerce and fandom suggest, the story of Dracula (any vampire, really) is hinged on emotional intelligence and moral complexity. To put a finer point on it, the reader or viewer is forced to confront certain issues in ways that challenge the accepted moral and…
Not much dialogue, but wow, what sizzling drama in Matthew Posey’s latest play, Buñuel Descending, which enjoyed a short sold-out run at Ochre House. A revival is a must, the sooner the better for this sexy one-act that let music and flamenco dance take the place of words. This is…
Pause now to consider The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter. The 1957 one-act opens the 25th season for Kitchen Dog Theater, now working in its new (temporary) home at The Green Zone on the edge of the Design District. The smaller theater is an awkward fit for a company used…
There was some yelling but nobody got punched at this year’s DFW Theater Critics Forum luncheon. Nobody left angry either, which might be a first. Every September the print and online theater critics of Dallas and Fort Worth eat chicken and brownies together and hash over the previous year’s productions…
Last June, Claire Wilcher of Indianapolis, Indiana started a trip that most people only get to talk about taking in their lifetime. She quit her job, packed up her stuff and threw into a renovated RV for a 23-city trip that will take her to major cities across the country…
The way is clear, the light is good and the singing, acting and comedy in Lyric Stage’s to-the-hilt production of Into the Woods are absolutely enchanting. From the frantic overlapping lyrics of the opening prologue to the sweet, soaring poetry of “No One Is Alone,” the hopeful ballad at the…
Yeah, you think you’re a hot shot all right. Someone once in the 11th grade called you funny and just like a bad STD, it stuck with you forever. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and Kirsten Wiig are so funny and you’re just like them, a drunk guy at a…
In a once-in-a-year event, dancers from Dallas and surrounding cities and states will showcase their talents to an amazed audience at the Dallas City Performance Hall for Dallas DanceFest. Throughout Labor Day weekend, more than 150 dancers will perform a wide array of styles of dance, including ballet, hip-hop, theatrical,…
Working in ballet for nearly 50 years, Texas Ballet Theater’s artistic director Ben Stevenson is a modest legend who has always focused on telling a story with his art. Dracula: Dangerous New Terrain was first performed in 1997 in Houston and has now become a seasonal ballet, like The Nutcracker…
Comedian Josh Johnson has made some great strides in his life and not just as a comic. His progress shows as he talks about Tabitha, the first album he’s set to record on Thursday at Andy’s Bar in Denton. “For the most part, I have to tell myself that it’s…
Longtime filmmaker/podcaster Kevin Smith returns to town for a Q&A and a live podcast recording on Friday night at the Texas Theatre. He loves to do these kinds of events, as they are part storytelling, stand-up act and fan interaction, all in one. He’s done them his entire career, from…
Summer’s on its way out, fall is coming, and even though we may not measure our lives in semesters anymore, I have a goal for you to make with me, a leaf to turn over. Let’s see more theater this year? Whadya say? There’s something really great stuff hitting the…
“True always trumps clever,” says character actor and podcast raconteur Stephen Tobolowsky at the top of his one-man show The Tobolowsky Files, playing through the end of August at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Speaking directly to a crowd of about 50 in a small corner cabaret bar at…
