Chronicles of an Indigenous Offspring at Hyde Park Theatre

It's back! This powerful, moving, funny, wildly popular show sold out so hard this spring that we're bringing it back for those who want to see it--or see it again.

This show was just nominated for FIVE 2023 B. Iden Payne Awards (those are the the local theater Tonys). The show was nominated for Outstanding Drama; the amazing Zell Miller III was nominated for Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Solo Performance, and Outstanding Original Script; and Thomas Wheeler was nominated for Outstanding Musical Performance.

(Forgive the brag, but two other HPT shows also received nominations: Radio :30 was nominated for Outstanding Direction of a Comedy (Ken Webster) and Outstanding Performance in a Comedy (Mical Trejo). Webster was also nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance for St. Nicholas.)

If the nominations aren't enough, find out more about Chronicles of an Indigenous Offspring in this marvelous two-minute KUT Arts Eclectic piece.

The Austin Chronicle called the show "entertaining and always engaging" and compared it to Aaron Sorkin's theatrical adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, currently playing at Bass Concert Hall: "As a work intended to ruffle feathers, the one-act Chronicles should swap places with Mockingbird, where the Bass audience -- largely white, older, and affluent --are prime for some in-your-face awakening." Soulciti says, "A shout-out to a lot of things that are gone . . . a Black kid's perspective of the city using spoken word, a jazz aesthetic, movement, and just storytelling. It keeps you locked in -- I was not ready for it to end."

A therapeutic exhale that documents growing up black in Austin, Texas. A love letter to cultural landmarks that have been erased from the city's consciousness, Chronicles also exposes the city's dark past. Famed photographer Ivan Millers's black-and-white images create a striking visual environment, and Miller's longtime musical collaborator Thomas the T-man Wheeler on percussion creates a funky sonic landscape. Together with Miller's masterful storytelling, they make a three-dimensional theatrical experience.

Inspired by James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son and Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me, Miller uses hip-hop culture, jazz aesthetics movement, and slam poetry spoken word to weave an authentic tapestry offering a picture of it wht means to be a person of color in this southern city.

Miller's previous work includes The Evidence of Silence Broken (produced by Hyde Park Theatre), My Child, My Child, My Alien Child (produced by Hyde Park Theatre and winner of the Austin Critics' Table 2007 David Mark Cohen New Play Award), Hands Up Hoodies Down, and Ballot Eats the Bullet. He was awarded best author/poet in the Austin Chronicle's 2004 Best of Austin poll and has been inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame.

Come early! Prices go up the last two weeks of the run. This show runs at 8:00 PM on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, October 12 - November 4, 2023. Tickets range from $23 to $28, with $2 off for seniors, active service members, and ACA/F members. Every Thursday is Pay What You Can Night at the door. Buy tickets online or call 512-479-PLAY (7529).

Hyde Park Theatre is located at 511 W. 43rd Street. Covered off-street parking for the patrons of HPT is available during performances in the lot at 4315 Guadalupe Street, just north of The Parlor. You can drive through The Parlor's parking lot to reach it. Evening HPT parking also available at the Hyde Park Church of Christ on the northeast corner of 43rd & Avenue B. We are grateful to them both for their generosity.