So many plays, so little time.
Friday
The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo starts today, so bust out your boots.
Meanwhile, the Undermain, Dallas Theater Center, Theatre Three, and Uptown Players all have shows going into previews or just plain old opening this weekend. Catching a show in previews is a good deal. Not only do you get to see a work in a little bit of flux (this is interesting to me, at least, nerd that I am) but your tickets are sometimes little bit discounted. Such is the case with Abraham Zobell’s Home Movie…Final Reel, the Undermain Theatre’s latest world premiere. The playwright, Len Jenkin, is a favorite of the theater‘s, and vice versa. His new play concerns the elderly Abraham Zobell, who escapes his caregivers for one last grand adventure. His journey just happens to take him backward through the pivotal moments and characters of his long, colorful life. One note: Zobell is staged at the Dallas City Performance Hall in the Arts District rather than the bunker space under Main Street in Deep Ellum. Tonight, tickets are $10.
Also in the Arts District, you can catch the first preview of Oedipus el Rey, a modern twist on Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex that transport the story from ancient Greece to South Central Los Angeles. Tickets to this one are $50, which sounds potentially steep, but I’ve written you a nice magazine article on why you should see it. It’s here. Highlights: the design, a sort of steep oval-shaped stadium with the audience surrounding the action, is great. You’ll be up close and personal for all the nakedness, incest (this is the one where our young king accidentally marries his mom), and violence that goes with the Greek tragedy.
Saturday
Saturday night, dance company Pilobolus, made up entirely of people with rubber bones, brings their unique spin on modern dance to the Winspear Opera House. Members fold themselves into an array of words, figures, and scenes. You might remember their talents from the Oscars awhile back.
The International Association of Blacks in Dance is this weekend, as well, which means tons of talent just minutes away at the McFarlin Auditorium. Hosted by the Dallas Black Dance Theatre, it’s a don’t-miss chance to catch performances from distinguished visitors such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Ron K. Brown Evidence, Lula Washington Dance, and many others. Of course, DBDT will perform, as well. Saturday is your last chance, since the showcases began on Thursday.
Sunday
Amphibian Stage Productions kicks off its 2014 season with a staged reading of playwright Rajiv Joseph’s The North Pool. Joseph has a big year of productions here in North Texas last year, and his latest work invokes the age-old terror your high school principal’s office. In this particular case, it’s the vice principal, and Khadim Asmaan is the teenager in trouble. Problem is, he’s not really sure why he’s in the hot seat to begin with.
Finally, Charlie Wilson is at the Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie, which is just the inspiration I need to cut through the temptation for a lazy Sunday. The 61-year-old R&B artist, known for smooth solo numbers like “Charlie, Last Name Wilson” as well as his early work with his brothers as part of The Gap Band, is experiencing an incredible second act to his career collaborating with the same artists who owe him a debt—Kanye, Justin Timberlake, R. Kelly, the preposterous moniker Snoop Lion, to name only a few. Anyway. Get tickets. I’ll leave you with The Gap Band’s “Outstanding.”
For more to do this weekend, go here.
