Undermain Theatre Unveils 2023 New Works Fund Recipient

For 40 seasons the Undermain Theatre has been bringing new work for the theater to the Undermain stage in Dallas and beyond. In 2019, after the passing of Undermain's founding Artistic Director and guiding force Katherine Owens, Producing Artistic Director, Bruce DuBose, and the Undermain Theatre Board of Trustees established the Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work. Its mission is to carry on Katherine's lifelong commitment to poetic, thought-provoking new work and provide a continuing influence in the American Theater scene by funding theater artists in their pursuit of creating new works for the American stage. 

In celebration of Katherine's birthday, Undermain Theatre is pleased to announce the 2023 recipient of $10,000 from the Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work to playwright Jarrett King for his ongoing work in the American Theater, with an eye toward the future production of a new play for the Undermain stage.

This collaboration is funded by the Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work to support the continuation of the work Katherine fostered during her 36 years as Undermain Theatre's founding Artistic Director.

Jarrett King

(he/him) is an actor, playwright, and educator originally from Austin, Texas. His play A War of the Worlds—an afrofuturist reimagining of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast—was the inaugural production in Penfold Theatre Company's new play commission series and received 12 B. Iden Payne Award nominations, including Best Original Script. Other works include The Possible, Box, and St. Miles, which was developed while a playwright-in-residence at The Goodman Theatre. He is a 2023 recipient of Definition Theatre's Amplify New Play Commission, where his play Frog Splash is currently in development. In addition to playwriting, he is a two-time second rounder at the Austin Film Festival. As an actor, he has nearly two decades worth of credits performing in film, television, and professional theaters including Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Salvage Vanguard, Penfold Theatre, and the Mary Moody Northen Theatre. As an educator, he has worked as a Teaching Artist at Steppenwolf, Silk Road Rising, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Shakespeare Slam. He is the Director of Education at Court Theatre and an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University. iamjarrettking.com

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