This Side of the Dirt at Dougherty Arts Center

This Side of the Dirt, a dramatic new comedy written by Tito Beveridge and directed by Ty Roberts will play a limited nine-show engagement June 2-18; Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm at The Dougherty Arts Center in downtown Austin. Don't miss this intimate performance - filled with stories, laughter and family relationships.

This Side of the Dirt is a South Texas family drama steeped in satire and humor. The story takes place days after the death of the family patriarch, Papo. We find his daughter, Jean Ann, alone and weeping as she comes to terms with her loss. As each new character enters her home, the layers of her pain and paranoia unfold.

With Jonna Juul Hansen as Jean Ann, Beth Shea as Sally, Mark Hernandez as Juan, Wray Crawford as Jimmy, Jennifer Caplan as Jenny and Jae McCain as Anthony, This Side of the Dirt is full of wild characters and big ideas about life, love and friendship. It is a charming snapshot of a lovely yet dysfunctional ranching family guided by the sure-footed and unassuming, Juan, who must keep everyone in balance to ensure their sanity.

This Side of the Dirt was born from the mind of no other than Tito Beveridge. He pieced together a story based on characters in his own life and others that he simply dreamed up. Writing about the subjects that interested him most -- family, friends, land and philosophy – he tinged this all together with a little South Texas flair to create This Side of the Dirt. Tito’s love of these characters drives his narrative through the ups and down of life and family – touching upon those hard hitting moments when we are our weakest then building back up to our best and oftentimes funniest. Most of all This Side of the Dirt is about love and family and the importance of telling it like it is and knowing that in the end it will all work out like it should.

“It’s a story of how one strong minded willful person lives on, after death, in spirit, through his family and friends”, says the renaissance man behind the script, Tito Beveridge, who’s venturing for the first time into playwriting.