The Festival of Independent Theatres sneaked up on us a little this year, which means it’s right up against Kitchen Dog Theater’s New Works Festival and perfectly timed for attendees of the national Theatre Communications Group convention that’s conveniently taking place in the Arts District next week. So many plays, so little time. At FIT, you’ll find eight productions, four of them brand new, from various companies. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s there to see:
Dinosaur and Robot Stop a Train from Audacity Theater Lab. Written by Brad McEntire, it’s a comedy about a time-traveling robot and a dinosaur. I’d probably be more into this premise if it was a drama. (I kid. I kinda like to laugh, to paraphrase Lizzy Bennett).
Dead Wait from Churchmouse Productions. This is the company’s fourth visit to FIT, so one might say these folks are old hats. Another comedy, this time bit more macabre, about two dead waiters stuck in Limbo.
The Treatment, Echo Theatre Company. Echo Theatre, a longtime participant of the festival, works through a piece by The Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler. I saw this two-person drama in New York when it premiered at the CultureProject a few years ago. It’s pretty intense, digging into the wounded psyche of a war veteran and the female psychologist assigned to him for a routine evaluation. I’d see it again.
Like Me, from monologist John Michael. John Michael Colgin, making his FIT debut, really, really just wants you to like him. The solo performer who wrote The A-Gays: Stillwater, Oklahoma offers “an interactive discussion about Facebook, social media and the consequences of losing one’s narrative.”
Play it by Ear from Rhythmic Souls. FIT gets a dance performance.
The 1947 Ford from One Thirty Productions. Our matinee-only theater troupe presents the story of a man and his desire to commune with nature. Not a retelling of Grizzly Man, though our naturalist hero does contemplate those sticky questions of life and deaf. While out in the wilderness, he encounters two birds who impact his journey.
Ask Questions Later from Rite of Passage Theatre. This “racy, yet topical thriller” has everything—ill-advised teenage sexy time and a school shooter.
Lydie Marland in the Afterlife from WingSpan Theatre Company. The only group that’s been doing the FIT longer than Echo Theatre. Their entry is an “otherworldly perspective on the life of one of Oklahoma’s most fascinating and eccentric first ladies” written by Dallas playwright Isabella Russell-Ides.
More Theater and Comedy This Weekend
Aziz Ansari at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie.
4.48 Psychosis at Davis Foundry Gallery in Oak Cliff.
Good Nuts at Ochre House in Fair Park.
An Iliad at Undermain Theatre in Deep Ellum. It’s baaa-ck.
Fences at African American Rep in DeSoto.
