WaterTower Theatre’s 23rd season, only the second programmed by artistic director Joanie Schultz, will include three regional premieres, a world premiere and a new adaptation of an old classic by Schultz herself.
The subscription season of five productions kicks off in October with Schultz’s new 90-minute adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. A different play, A Doll’s House Part 2, was a Broadway hit last season. Schultz stays close to the period and plot of the original updated to the current age. (Oct. 12–Nov. 4.)
That will be followed by a season extra, the return of Kelsey Leigh Ervi’s The Great Distance Home, which also ran last year around the holidays, but this time moves to the mainstage. It’s a nearly worldless journey of a boy who sets home to discover his life again. (Nov. 23–Dec. 16.)
The new year begins with the second incarnation of Detour: A Festival of New Work, a weekend-long repertory of up-and-coming plays and performances. (Jan. 17–20.) That will be quickly followed by a series of performances by Dark Circles Contemporary Dance. (Jan 24–27.) DCCD will actually perform three in-residence dance programs, the other two March 22–24 and again Sept. 12–15.
The next full mainstage production will be Guadalupe in the Guest Room, a heartfelt comedy about a Spanish-speaking woman who bonds with her English-speaking son-in-law over a shared fondness for a TV show. It’s a regional premiere. (Feb. 22–March 17.)
Ervi returns to direct Everything is Wonderful, another regional premiere where past and present collide following a tragic car accident that affects an Amish community. (April 19–May 12.) The season’s only musical will be the Southwest premiere of The Ballad of Little Jo, based on the cult indie film. (June 7–30.)
Another season add on will be Unveiled: A One Woman Play about five Muslim women who share stories about faith. (June 12–30.) The season ends with Origin Story, a world premiere mainstage play written by Nathan Alan Davis. This play was originally presented as a reading earlier this year at the inaugural Detour festival. (Aug. 2–25.)
WTT’s current show, Bread, is excellent — read our review here.
More information is available at WaterTowerTheatre.org.
— Arnold Wayne Jones
