Undermain Theatre Announces 2021/2022 Season

For their 38th season at Undermain they are creating an exciting array of diverse performance opportunities to inspire and enrich our community and support artists in North Texas. As they keep an eye on the Covid-19 pandemic and the fluctuating infection rate, they hope to be able to offer live performances in addition to the virtual streaming videos for each production.

Opening the season will be our coproduction with the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, Stronger Than Arms, an adaptation of Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes done in the inimitable style of DGDG. Next we'll revive Conor McPherson's St. Nicholas, our most viewed streaming production, which brought us national acclaim last fall. This year, in addition to the streaming video production, we hope to offer a full live production with an enhanced soundscape and lighting environment as the unnamed narrator of McPherson's chillingly entertaining play weaves a story of modern day vampires in London. March will bring the return of our Whither Goest Thou America festival of new play readings with works by up and coming playwrights Zander Pryor and Erin Malone Turner as well as a new play from Undermain company member Len Jenkin. In June we'll feature our long postponed production of Lonesome Blues, a meditation on the life and songs of blues legend Blind Lemon Jefferson by Alan Govenar and Akin Babatundé.

New this season, the In Concert Undermain series offers single Saturday night concerts by Ryan Berg and the Velvet Ears, singer/songwriter Jess Garland and Open Classical. Each concert will also be offered as a streaming video.

While it is our hope to be able to offer live performances to a reduced capacity of socially distanced audiences, we will evaluate putting on live performances based on the status of the pandemic. The health and safety of our audience, cast, crew and staff is our top priority. We've made upgrades to our HVAC systems and environment to provide the healthiest atmosphere possible. Each production will offer a streaming alternative for those who don't feel ready to return to live performance. Undermain will continue to monitor CDC, Dallas County, and its own health and safety consultants on safety protocols throughout the season. This fall, masks will be required in the theater as well at temperature checks upon arrival. Thank you for your support, patience and good thoughts. Together we can stay safe, enjoy cutting edge performance and find our way back to the art of live theater.

~Bruce DuBose

Producing Artistic Director

Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear

STRONGER THAN ARMS (Live and Streaming)

By Danielle Georgiou & Justin Locklear

A new adaptation of Aeschylus' Ancient Greek tragedy Seven Against Thebes

A World Premiere

Preview Performances 9/16 and 9/17/21

Opening Night Saturday, 9/18/21

Live Performances 9/16/21 - 10/2/21. Streaming 10/3/21 - 10/17/21.

Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and one Sunday matinee at 2:00 p.m. on 9/26

Stronger Than Arms is a world premiere of a new adaptation of Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes, diving into the spiritual and political burdens placed on the women of Thebes. As the generational conflicts of territory and birthright ravage Theban society and the cities around them, the chorus of women is divided, revealing their individual conflicts, motivations, and allegiances. Our understanding of the events in Thebes are a swirling curation of history and myth, and Stronger Than Arms stirs the mixture into something truly revolutionary. Stemming from the line "Fear is stronger than arms," the story points to the power of humanity's worst enemy, unconquerable fear, and reveals that there could be something stronger - the willingness to change.

Danielle Georgiou & Justin Locklear

Danielle Georgiou is the Associate Artistic Director of Undermain Theatre, and is a Dallas-based choreographer, performance artist, and director. Since 2011, she has been the Artistic Director of the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group (DGDG), an ensemble-based dance theatre company that produces original dance plays and musicals. DGDG was selected as Best Dance Troupe of 2017 and 2015 by the Dallas Observer and Best Dance Company for 2016 by the Readers of D Magazine. The Show About Men (2015) was named Best New Play or Musical and cited for Outstanding Creative Contribution for Choreography by the Dallas Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum Awards. At Undermain, Danielle has worked on Madame Bovary, The Thanksgiving Play, so go the ghosts of méxico parts two and three, How Is It That We Live or Shakey Jake + Alice, Three Sisters, and the Whither Goest Thou America Festival. Undermain has also presented two DGDG works, Things Missing/Missed and The Savage Seconds. She has worked at the Dallas Theater Center, Theatre 3, Kitchen Dog Theater, Echo Theatre, Dead White Zombies, Stage West, Circle Theatre, and Junior Players. She was the Movement Consultant for the Off-Broadway production of Lonesome Blues, and her choreography and video works have been presented nationally and internationally. She holds a Ph.D. in Humanities-Aesthetic Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas, and is a Professor of Dance, Humanities, and Visual Art at Dallas College-Eastfield Campus.

Justin Locklear is an actor, director, and playwright based in Dallas, TX. He is the currently the Artist-In-Residence at The Ochre House Theater, an experimental theatre producing a season of new works each year, including a bilingual Flamenco show. As a part of that residency, Justin designs puppets and collaborates on new works as the Musical Director. He is also the Producer and Conceptual Artist of the award-winning contemporary dance theatre company, the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group. Recent works include The Savage Seconds, a film/web hybrid with DGDG/UMT; Idle Spirit, with The Ochre House Theater, part four of the Ghosts In The Kitchen solo-series; and Things Missing/Missed, a filmed adaptation of the play, with DGDG/UMT. Justin has trained in clown at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance, exhibited puppets at the Puppeteers of America National Exhibit, and looks for new lessons, teachers, and experiences at every turn. He holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts from Baylor University.

Bruce DuBose

ST. NICHOLAS (Live and Streaming)

By Conor McPherson

Performed by Undermain Artistic Director Bruce DuBose

Preview Performances 10/20, 10/21 and 10/22/21

Opening Night Saturday, 10/23/21

In Performance 10/20/21 - 11/7/21

Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.

Undermain brings its most widely viewed and nationally acclaimed streaming production back this season for a live performance with a vivid soundscape and lighting design.

A cynical and jaded drama critic falls for a beautiful young actress. On a drunken bender one weekend he pursues her to London, where he falls in with a coven of modern-day vampires. Is it a drunken fairytale or his own vision of a higher truth? Storytelling at its spooky best comes to life in this haunting solo story performed by Undermain artistic director Bruce DuBose.

"Not only is Mr. DuBose an outstanding performer, but the production as a whole is identical in quality to the superlative work being done online by New York's Irish Repertory Theatre."

Conor McPherson

Conor McPherson is a playwright and screenwriter who was named by The New York Times as 'the finest playwright of his generation.' Conor won the George Devine Award in 1997 with his play St Nicholas, and went on to win an Olivier Award for Best New Play in 1999 with his follow-up, The Weir. In 2006 he received a Tony Award nomination for Shining City and an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play for The Seafarer. In 2011 he wrote and directed The Veil for The National Theatre and in 2012 he adapted Strindberg's The Dance of Death for the Donmar Trafalgar Season. The Night Alive premièred at the Donmar in June 2013 and transferred to the Atlantic Theater in New York in November 2013.

Conor also writes for film and in 2008 he began production on The Eclipse, which marked his debut as a screen director. The Eclipse was adapted by Conor from a ghost story by Billy Roche and stars Aidan Quinn and Ciaran Hinds. He also developed Strangers for Number 9 Films based on the novel by Taichi Yamada. Conor is currently working on the screenplay Double Cross for Paul Greengrass. His original television drama Paula, developed with Cuba Pictures and BBC NI for BBC2, aired in May 2017 to brilliant reviews. The Girl from the North Country, with music from Bob Dylan, had its world premiere at the Old Vic theatre in July 2017 and transferred to the West End in January 2018, then to Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2020 and moved to Broadway at the Belasco Theatre.

Whither Goest Thou America:

A Festival of new American play readings

"Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?"

-Jack Kerouac, from On the Road

(Live and Streaming)

March 12 - March 27, 2022

Undermain presents its fourth series of readings of new American plays examining the American Landscape. Past festivals have brought the work of local writers Jonathan Norton and Blake Hackler as well as other American Playwrights such as David Rabe, Adrienne Kennedy, Barbara Hammond, Gordon Dahlquist, and Len Jenkin. In addition to staged readings, Undermain audiences get access to writers featured in the festival in post-show discussions with playwrights, directors and actors. Each week of the series will focus on a different playwright and play with staged readings by an ensemble cast. Audiences will have the opportunity to return each week of the series to experience a new work examining the American experience and asking the question, "Where are we going?"

New plays by:

Zander Pryor - PARENT, LEGAL GUARDIAN, ANGEL, OTHER

Parent, Legal Guardian, Angel, Other is a delicately woven full-length play exploring the idea of "chosen family" for non-binary, trans teens, and secret-holders, all trying to move forward with inclusion, love and self-forgiveness. A play fluid in time, place and identity, it follows broken people moving through liminal spaces and the love that accompanies them.

Zander Pryor (he/him) is a freshman at Sarah Lawrence College who has acted on professional stages across Dallas and Fort Worth. He's a two-time winner of the Young Playwrights Festival at the Blank Theatre in Los Angeles and the recipient of a gold medal and an American Voices medal at the national level of the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. His shorter plays have also been selected for festivals at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and at Stage West Theatre. He makes a point of including queer characters and relationships in his writing in order to make space for more people like him in theatre.

Erin Malone Turner - SPACED OUT

SPACED OUT is a science-fiction drama that explores a family in crisis; virtual reality, miscommunication, grief, and the various ways people attempt to escape their troubles-in Ollie's case, to an alternate universe of sorts. This surrealist play is an adventure of movement, technology, and Sign Language, as well as a bizarre journey through space and time.

Erin Malone Turner is a New Orleans born, Dallas-based playwright, poet, actor, and filmmaker. She graduated from UT Arlington in 2017 with a BA in English and a Creative Writing minor. Her plays have been featured in productions and festivals across DFW, including: through a glass darkly (Amphibian Stage), how to catch a ghost (Kitchen Dog Theater), THE BRIDGE (IMPRINT Theatreworks), i thought you hung the moon (Luckenbooth Theatre), and the way it was/the way it is (Soul Repertory Theatre). Her artistic drive includes telling Black stories, exploring science/speculative fiction, showing the holiness of mundanity, and amplifying Deafness/Sign Language onstage. You can follow her creative endeavors on New Play Exchange and on Instagram @erinmaloneturner. Black lives matter.

Len Jenkin - PSALM 151

An old woman in Florida,

Her son, a Pharmaceutical Representative

His wife Ruthie, a caregiver

Their autistic child

The Christian Scientists

The Detroit Red Wings

And the money....

Psalm 151- a tragic comedy, and a comic tragedy, or how the world turns round in 10 scenes.

Len Jenkin is an American playwright, director, screenwriter, and novelist. He has won three Obie awards for his off-Broadway work as a director and a playwright. His plays include Dark Ride, Pilgrims of the Night, Careless Love, My Uncle Sam, Limbo Tales, The Dream Express, and Like I Say. Len Jenkin's work has been performed throughout the United States and internationally. How is it That We Live or Shakey Jake + Alice was Undermain's seventh production of his work, having previously produced Jonah, Abraham Zobell's Home Movie: Final Reel..., Time in Kafka, Poor Folks Pleasure, Margo Veil, and Port Twilight or The History of Science. Jenkin's numerous awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rockefeller Foundation Award, a nomination for an EMMY Award, and four National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. He was a Sundance Institute PlayLabs Fellow, along with Undermain Artistic Director Katherine Owens. Mr. Jenkin holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from Columbia University.

LONESOME BLUES (Live and Streaming)

By Akin Babatundé and Alan Govenar

A Regional Premiere

Directed by Akin Babatundé

Akin Babatundé and Alan Govenar

Preview Performances: 6/15, 6/16, and 6/17/22

Opening Night: Saturday, 6/18/22

In Performance: 6/15 - 7/3/22

Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.

Lonesome Blues is the true story of the legendary bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson: born blind, but ultimately able to express his deepest emotions through music. Discovered on a street corner in the Deep Ellum section of Dallas, Texas in 1925, Jefferson made more than 80 records over the next four years, becoming one the most prolific and influential performers of his generation and propelling the growth of rhythm and blues, soul, doo-wop, rap, and hip-hop. Building on the success of their earlier musical Blind Lemon Blues, presented by the York in 2007 and 2009, Alan Govenar and Akin Babatundé have used new research to probe deeper into the life and psyche of Blind Lemon Jefferson. In Lonesome Blues, J. Dontray Davis plays more than ten different roles, channeling the spirits of men and women alike, in a journey that is at once evocative, troubling, and transformative. Songs and monologues bring to life the voice of Blind Lemon Jefferson, his community, and his musical contemporaries, including Blind Willie Johnson, Lillian Glinn, Hattie Hudson, Bobbie Cadillac, and Lead Belly-all coming together in Jefferson's mind on the day of his death, December 19, 1929, in Chicago.

Akin Babatundé

Akin Babatundé, a native of New York City, is an accomplished actor, director, and writer whose theatrical career spans Broadway, regional theatre, film and television. He has been a resident company member of prestigious theatrical institutions throughout the country: Trinity Rep (Providence, Rhode Island), Alley Theater (Houston, Texas), La Mama Theater (New York City) and the Dallas Theater Center. He is founder and artistic director of Vivid Theater Ensemble of Dallas and founder of Ebony Emeralds Classic Theater Company. Akin was the first African American to direct for the Dallas Shakespeare Festival in the celebrated diverse production of Taming of the Shrew in 1993. As a writer, his work has been commissioned by Florida Stage, La Mama Theater, the Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, Brown University, the Black Academy of Arts and the and Core Ensemble. Akin worked on Shakespeare - Midnight Echoes tours in Texas paying homage to black performing artists who performed Shakespeare from slavery to the present. He has toured extensively with Core Ensemble in Of Ebony Embers - Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance. Akin wrote and starred in Blind Lemon Blues, which toured in Europe (Paris, Geneva, Brussels, Amsterdam) and received rave notices in the New York Times at its 2004 New York premiere at Central Park's Summer Stage. He starred in the 2018 Off Broadway production of Lonesome Blues, directed by Undermain Founding Artistic Director, Katherine Owens. Akin's work has been awarded a Dallas Observer Best Actor Award (the first African-American to receive this distinction), 1991 and 2004 Dallas Critics Forum Award, the 2004 Legacy of Success, and the Alvin Ailey Performing Arts Award. He received the prestigious Individual Artists Grant from the Palm Beach County Cultural Council to create a new work Harvest of Voices based on oral histories. Theater impresario Ellen Stewart of La Mama Theater describes him as "one of those rare geniuses who comes into our lives." Akin holds a Master of Arts degree in Arts and Humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Alan Govenar

Alan Govenar is a writer, folklorist, photographer, and filmmaker. He is president of Documentary Arts, a non-profit organization he founded in 1985 to present new perspectives on historical issues and diverse cultures. Govenar has a B.A. with distinction in American Folklore from Ohio State University, an M.A. in Folklore and Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Arts and Humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and the author of thirty books, including Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound, Stompin' at the Savoy: The Story of Norma Miller, Extraordinary Ordinary People, Everyday Music, Untold Glory, Stoney Knows How: Life as a Sideshow Tattoo Artist, Deep Ellum: The Other Side of Dallas, Portraits of Community, The Early Years of Rhythm and Blues: The Photography of Benny Joseph, and The Blues Come to Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick's Unfinished Book. His book Osceola: Memories of a Sharecropper's Daughter won First Place in the New York Book Festival (Children's Non-Fiction), a Boston Globe-Hornbook Honor; and an Orbis Pictus Honor from the National Council of Teachers of English. Govenar's film, Stoney Knows How, based on his book by the same title about Old School tattoo artist Leonard St. Clair, was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and was selected as an Outstanding Film of the Year by the London Film Festival. Govenar has also produced and directed numerous films in association with NOVA, La Sept/ARTE, and PBS for broadcast and educational distribution. His documentaries The Beat Hotel, Master Qi and the Monkey King, You Don't Need Feet to Dance, and Extraordinary Ordinary People are distributed by First Run Features. Govenar is also a playwright, whose musicals include Blind Lemon Blues and Lonesome Blues (with Akin Babatundé) and Texas in Paris. His musicals have been performed at the York Theatre (New York), Forum Meyrin (Geneva), Maison des Cultures du Monde (Paris), Zuiderpershuis (Antwerp), Leidse Schouwburg (Leiden), Regentes (Den Haag), and Oude Luxor (Rotterdam).

In Concert Undermain series (Live and Streaming)

A new series of Saturday night single performances by singer/songwriters, musicians, trios and combos from a range of musical styles and genres. The In Concert series will also feature a streaming video option of the performance with an enhanced audio mix.

Ryan Berg and the Velvet Ears - Saturday night, Nov. 13th, 2021

Soulful and Bluesy singer/songwriter Ryan Berg has been making waves on the Dallas scene along with his stacked and blues rooted backup band. In November, they'll help us kick off the In Concert Undermain series.

Jess Garland - Saturday night, Feb. 19th, 2022

Jess Garland is a Dallas based singer/songwriter, recording and performing artist.

A multi-instrumentalist, using a combination of harp and guitar loops evoking elements of ambient folk and celestial tones, Jess Garland will be In Concert Undermain in February.

Open Classical - Saturday Night, April 23, 2022

Open Classical produces and promotes events that place classical music into the heart of everyday popular culture. Next spring they'll bring a trio of talented artists to In Concert Undermain.

Undermain Theatre's 38th Season Summary - 2021/2022

Live and Streaming

STRONGER THAN ARMS

By Danielle Georgiou & Justin Locklear

A World Premiere

In Performance 9/16/21 - 10/2/21, Thur. through Sat. at 7:30pm, one Sun. matinee at 2:00pm on 9/26. Streaming 10/3/21 - 10/17/21

Preview Performances 9/16 and 9/17/21

Opening Night Saturday 9/18/21

ST. NICHOLAS

By Conor McPherson

In Performance 10/20/21 - 11/7/21, Thurs. through Sat. at 7:30pm, Sun. matinees at 2:00pm.

Preview Performances 10/20, 10/21 and 10/22/21

Opening Night Saturday 10/23/21

In Concert: Ryan Berg and the Velvet Ears

Saturday night, Nov. 13th, 2021

In Concert: Jess Garland

Saturday night, Feb. 19th, 2022

WHITHER GOEST THOU AMERICA Festival of New Plays

In Performance 3/12/22 - 3/27/22

In Concert: Open Classical

Saturday Night, April 23, 2022

LONESOME BLUES

By Akin Babatundé and Alan Govenar

A Regional Premiere

In Performance 6/15/22 - 7/3/22, Wed. through Sat. at 7:30pm, Sun. matinees at 2:00pm.

Preview Performances 6/15, 6/16, and 6/17/22

Opening Night Saturday 6/18/22

Ticket prices are:

Streaming: $15

In person:

Preview performances are $15

Wednesdays and Thursdays $20

Fridays $25

Saturdays $30

All matinee performances are $20

Reading Festival Tickets are $15

Concert Series Tickets are $15

Subscriptions Available on www.undermain.org

UNDERGROUND FLEXIBLE SEASON PASS

Level one: $65

4 tickets to any live performance, reading, concert or stream

1 Drink Voucher

$5 off any extra ticket or stream purchase

Can be used by

Level two: $99

6 tickets to any live performance, reading, concert or stream

2 Drink Vouchers

$5 off any extra ticket or stream purchase

Level three: $125

8 tickets to any live performance, reading, concert or stream

3 Drink Vouchers

$5 off any extra ticket or stream purchase

Visit www.undermain.org to purchase subscriptions online (after 8/30) or call the box office at 214-747-5515.

Discounts are available for seniors, students, KERA members, and groups for in person performances. You must call 214-747-5515 for your discount. Undermain is located at 3200 Main Street at the corner of Murray Street in Deep Ellum. The closest paid lot is on the corner of Main and Hall streets.

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