AUSTIN: VORTEX Repertory Company has announced its 2016-17 season, featuring five world premieres and the return of an audience favorite.
The season will begin with Ballot Eats the Bullet (Oct. 27-Nov. 5), by Zell Miller III, about six black women who set out to honor what it means to be a black woman in America today. Miller will direct.
Next up will be Ebony Stewart’s Hunger (Dec. 8-11), about Stewart’s difficult relationship with her father.
Just in time for the holidays will be The Muttcracker (Sweet!) (Dec. 28-Jan. 8, 2017), a Circus Chickendog production, featuring talented canines, juggling acts, and a talking macaw.
Following will be the world premiere of Sarah Saltwick’s A Perfect Robot (Jan. 19-Feb.11, 2017), about a robot companion. Rudy Ramirez will direct.
The season will continue with Closer Up: Intimate Magic of Andrew Goldenhersh (Feb. 23-25, 2017), a magic show featuring visual illusions.
Next up will be the 20th anniversary production of Robot Daddy (March 2-12, 2017), a multimedia collaboration with theatre company Electronic Planet Ensemble.
Following will be the world premiere of Lisa B. Thompson’s Underground (March 25-April 8, 2017), about two friends on the eve of a revolution deciding how far they are willing to go for their people. Ramirez will direct.
Next will be Genius (April 13-15, 2017), a Diverse Space Dance Theatre production, featuring choreography by Toni Bravo.
The season will continue with the world premiere of My Big Fat Bahookie (April 21-May 6, 2017), a Renaissance Austin Theatre production by Lorella Loftus, about body image, self-esteem, diets, and the diet industry.
Following will be the world premiere of Ocean (May 11-21, 2017), by Ebony Stewart, a collection of womb stories filled with trigger warnings and laughter.
Next will be Scheherazade (June 2-17, 2017), a devised theatre piece exploring war, the refugee crisis, and the war on terror. The GenEnCo production will feature collaborators of Middle Eastern descent, and kt shorb will direct.
Next up will be the world premiere of Twentyeight (Aug. 4-19, 2017), a Gale Theatre Company production by Tyler English-Beckwith, an afro-futuristic look at police brutality and survival in America. English-Beckwith and Matrex Kilgore will codirect.
The season will conclude with Chad Salvata’s Vampyress (Sept. 2-23, 2017), an Ethos production, which is an opera about a bloody countess. Bonnie Cullum will direct.
VORTEX Repertory Company, founded in 1988, creates and presents new and innovative performances of operas, musicals, devised collaborations, and ritual theatre.
