Amphibian Stage’s 2023 season lineup doesn’t just stop with 4 plays (one in all them a world premiere) — it also features a recent, Texas-wide Van Cliburn-style acting competition during SparkFest and three weeks of back-to-back stand-up comedy featuring outstanding Black comedians.
“For years I’ve dreamed of hosting an acting competition that will not only reward actors for his or her years of coaching and experience, but that will also allow audiences to see the brightest Texas talent,” says artistic director Kathleen Culebro. “There may be a perceived absence of MENASA talent in the world, and this further limits the opportunities available to them. By showcasing them, we hope to introduce artistic leaders to more actors and thus encourage all of us to incorporate their stories in our seasons.”
The season starts with Spaceman, written by Leegrid Stevens and directed by Jay Duffer. It follows Molly Jennis’ solo mission to Mars after her husband’s failed, tragic attempt at the identical journey. When Amphibian Stage co-artistic director Jay Duffer reached out to Stevens about producing Spaceman, she revealed how apt it was that the play can be presented in DFW, specifically at Amphibian Stage.
“My mother-in-law is a native Fort Value resident and has attended several productions at Amphibian Stage,” says Stevens. “Like a dutiful mother-in-law, she suggested I submit a play to Amphibian as ‘they’re real good.’ Well, I listened to her for once and here we’re! My wife grew up in Keller and we return to Fort Value a few times a yr. I’m thrilled that Spaceman is retreating again, with a recent team, in our second home.”
This production will probably be the primary for the reason that world premiere at Latest York City’s Loading Dock Theatre in 2019. It runs February 10-March 5, 2023.
After Spaceman, Amphibian Stage travels back to Earth: 1980, Latest York City U.S. Office of Immigration, specifically. Babachronicles the tender, funny, and sophisticated relationship between a newly immigrated father and his U.S.-born daughter. Freedom and family collide when Mohammad’s seek for the American dream leads Layla on a quest home to Egypt, 30 years after the story begins.
Playwright and performer Denmo Ibrahim developed Baba as a solo performance for herself, portraying each Mohammed and Layla.
“I’m thrilled to see Baba reimagined from a solo performance to a two-person, fully realized play,” he says. “In Amphibian Stage’s production, the story transforms beautifully from a daughter grappling together with her father’s memory to a father and daughter’s eager for home. The play received its world premiere a decade ago, and considering what our country has endured these last 10 years, Baba now has turn into ever more timely.”
Directed by Hamid Dehghani, it runs April 21-May 7, 2023.
Next, Amphibian’s own Evan Michael Woods directs the world premiere of Christine Carmela’s Miss Molly, A Marital Deceit of Honest Intentions.
The play is an homage to Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, offering the identical humor and charm of Wilde’s work while incorporating modern references and exploring queer themes (an act punishable by law during Wilde’s lifetime).
Carmela and Woods are TCU alumni who also happened to be roommates when Carmela first drafted Miss Molly. Since graduating, Carmela made her Off-Broadway debut at SoHo Repertory Theatre and has accrued 6.2 million likes on TikTok — all while studying for her masters in screenwriting from the University of Southern California.
While Woods is referred to as a multidisciplinary theater artist in DFW, Miss Molly marks his directorial debut.
“To have Miss Molly premiere in every other city, at every other theater, with every other director would feel blasphemous,” Carmela says. “DFW has all the time been a creative home for me; it’s where I began my profession as a author and performer. Before USC and Off-Broadway, Amphibian was the primary skilled theater to offer me a likelihood after they hosted a staged reading of one in all my early plays. There just isn’t a single director higher suited to bring Miss Molly to life than the one that lived within the room next-door to me for many of my time in DFW, whom I consider a go-to collaborator, confidant, and friend.”
It runs July 21-August 13, 2023.
Just in time for Fall, Amphibian Stage closes their mainstage season with a darkly comic tale from prolific German author Friedrich Dürrenmatt. The Visittells the story of a wealthy philanthropist returning to her hometown to avoid wasting it from bankruptcy — but the cash comes with a deadly request that can test the morals of the town’s inhabitants.
This larger-than-life classic will probably be dropped at the stage in partnership with the University of Texas at Arlington’s Theater faculty and students.
“We’ve had the chance over the past several years to have Amphibian’s co-artistic director Jay Duffer share his directing expertise with UTA’s junior and senior theater majors within the Directing I course,” says Dr. Anne Healy, chair of Department of Theatre Arts & Dance on the University of Texas at Arlington. “The chance to now further collaborate with this skilled union theater is a critical next step for each faculty and students. Working in partnership with Amphibian on The Visit will provide a conduit for real-world application where students will work alongside area professionals (including our design faculty) toward a industrial production. We’re thrilled!”
Adapted by Maurice Valency and directed by Jay Duffer, it runs October 20-November 12, 2023.
Amphibian Stage’s stand-up comic residency returns with a formidable lineup and the promise of more performers to be announced within the Latest 12 months.
Grace & Frankie star Baron Vaughn returns for the third time since creating the residency series back in 2017. After starting this unique opportunity for stand-up artists, many big-name comedians — including Aparna Nancherla, Phoebe Robinson, River Butcher and Sasheer Zamata — have come through Amphibian Stage. He performs March Sep 11, 2023.
You’ve seen Nore Davis’ comedy on Comedy Central, Prime Video, The Tonight Show, Conan, and acting in hit shows Boardwalk Empire, Succession, and Dickinson. That is Nore’s first time acting at Amphibian Stage, March 16-18, 2023.
2 Dope Queens’ Phoebe Robinson returns to Amphibian Stage after a sold-out residency in 2019. While Robinson is best known for her work as a comedian and performer, she can be a Latest York Times best-selling creator and acclaimed producer. She sold out five nights in 2019 and can return March 23-25, 2023.
After Miss Molly closes in August, comedian Gabe Mollica is developing a stand-up set that straddles the road of theater and comedy. This just isn’t the primary stand-up residency to balance these two mediums; Jacqueline Novak ironed out Get On Your Knees at Amphibian Stage before it arrived Off-Broadway to critical acclaim.
Mollica’s recent project, Deductible, takes aim on the US healthcare system, and dates will probably be announced in early 2023. Three more residencies are also expected in 2023, and the comedy lineup is subject to alter.
This summer, the annual performing arts festival SparkFest returns June 1-17, 2023, to the Near Southside for the third time.
The 2023 iteration will introduce a Texas-wide “Van Cliburn Festival”-style acting competition with $18,000 in money prizes for the finalists. The competition will probably be limited to MENASA actors and artists.
The rest of the festival will concentrate on the event and showcasing of recent plays, supplemented by other engaging events. In 2021 and 2022, SparkFest included Light up the Runway (a Project Runway-style fashion show), a puppetry workshop, a comedy for beginners workshop, stand-up comedy performances, and far more. Details on the acting competition and festival lineup will probably be announced in early 2023.