Undermain Theatre

A nonprofit organization

$10,050 raised by 66 donors

67% complete

$15,000 Goal


Celebrating 40 years of light underground with a landmark anniversary season, Undermain Theatre will present its 2023-2024 season beginning in September 2023. The upcoming season will be a season of unlimited boundaries and will find us working both with long time collaborators as well as artists and voices new to the Undermain. Carefully curating a program designed to appeal to a broad general audience, we have selected four works new to our stage that represent diverse voices and stories highlighting the traditions and history of the theatre.

For forty years, Undermain has introduced new, thought-provoking voices from the American theatre to Dallas audiences and this 40th season is no exception. The season opens in September 2023 with a bold new southern gothic drama by Star Finch, Bondage, which takes place on a small southern island during pre-emancipation times. Hierarchies of race and gender collide in this AfroSurreal tale of an enslaved girl who dares to follow her own instincts toward liberation by any means. New to the Undermain basement is director Jiles King, who helmed the joint production of Fairview during the current season. Bondage also features long time Undermain Company member Rhonda Boutte.

Following in November, the Company once again explores the work of Harold Pinter by bringing the Regional premiere of his modern classic No Man's Land to the Undermain basement. Producing Artistic Director Bruce DuBose shares the stage with Undermain newcomer Tyrees Allen in Pinter's poetic masterpiece where two aging men stake out the emotional territory of memory. This Regional Premiere showcases a seminal and influential work in its first production for Dallas audiences and theater students.

Since the inception of the Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work in 2019, Undermain's artistic leadership and Board of Trustees has made it a priority to include a developing work by one of the grant recipients in each season. In March 2024, Undermain will bring a fully staged, workshop production by Brian Dang, this year's commissioned playwright, with their poetic but deadly love triangle, This time. Gabrielle Kurlander makes her directorial debut at Undermain with this production. This production will draw from the success of Undermain's recent workshop production of David Rabe's He's Born, He's Borne during the 2022-2023 season.

To mark our landmark four decades of performance, Undermain will present the world's oldest extant play, Aeschylus' The Persians, in a vivid and searing adaptation by American actress/playwright Ellen MacLaughlin. The Persians recounts the fall of the powerful and vast Persian empire at the hands of the Greeks and the struggles of the few Persian survivors to find a new way of life. Undermain draws on its recent successful adaptations of other works to create an accessible and engaging experience for its Dallas audiences.

Undermain Theatre operates around a belief that theater should be created by all and accessible by all. Throughout its 40-year history, Undermain's ticket-pricing policy has been driven by a core belief that income level should not be a limiting factor in attending live theater. Undermain's ticket price ceiling of $30 helps to eliminate cost as a barrier to participation, with face value of tickets to some performances as low as $15. A newly designed season subscription package offers flexibility and choice by allowing patrons to select competively priced packages for different nights of the week and in differing quantities of ticket vouchers. The Company also serves theater students and their teachers with discounted tickets and a low-cost Sunday matinee option.

Our Needs

We need your help to fund these improvements as we celebrate our 40th season and lay the foundation for the next decade of Light Underground in Undermain's Basement:

CURRENT NEEDS:

1. Close the gap between production costs and ticket revenue, helping keep ticket prices among the lowest in the North Texas metroplex during our 40th season and beyond.
2. Underwrite student and educator ticket costs, transportation subsidies, and master classes for high school students and build future audiences for the arts throughout North Texas.

Mission

Mission: Undermain Theatre is a company of artists seeking to inspire, educate and challenge audiences and artists through its production of new and experimental theater with particular interest in poetic and language-driven work.

Equity Statement

Here is the link to where our EDI statement is published:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cf6ef20efba46000156e1a5/t/5ea32ee6038d6f233b1fa88f/1587752678476/Undermain+Theatre+Equity%2C+Diversity+and+Inclusion+Plan.pdf

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Undermain Theatre

Tax id (EIN)

75-1961619

Guidestar

Causes

Arts, Culture & Humanities

Operating Budget

$500,000 - $999,999

Counties Served

Dallas

Equity Statement

Equity Statement

Address

P.O. Box 140193
Dallas, TX 75214

Phone

214-747-1424