History

Kitchen Dog Theater Company (KDT) was founded in 1990 by five graduates of the MFA Theater Program at Southern Methodist University (SMU). The co-founders' decision to remain in Dallas and form an ensemble theater company represented their commitment to enhancing and broadening the artistic canvas of the community. An extension of the common vocabulary and vision of artistic integrity forged while at SMU, Kitchen Dog Theater dedicated itself to creating theater which asks difficult questions and challenges the beliefs and assumptions of the artist and the audience. For KDT, exploring the limits of the actor’s physical, mental, and spiritual development was, and is, indelibly linked to stretching and transforming the individual and worldview of the audience.

In the attic of a downtown coffeehouse, KDT debuted in 1991 with a critically acclaimed, sold-out run of Maria Irene Fornes' MUD. Undaunted by shoestring budgets and a lack of rehearsal and performance space, KDT avidly pursued its mission to create a theater integral to the Dallas community and its artists. In the fall of 1994, KDT moved into its new home, as the invited resident company of the McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC), a unique multi-arts performance and exhibit space in the heart of downtown Dallas.

KDT company members have engaged area youth with theater by teaching workshops at local high schools, involving students in KDT productions, teaching summer youth theater for disadvantaged youth, and offering promotional packages and group discounts to area school groups. Company members also participate in weekly post-show community dialogues designed to keep the artists connected with the audience and provide a forum for active exchanges concerning the work.

Individual company members have pursued working relationships with a variety of other artistic organizations, including Cara Mia and Soul Rep Theaters. In addition, KDT designates free preview nights to local community agencies such as Genesis Women's Shelter, The Vogel Alcove, The AIDS Resource Center, The 500, Inc., Dallas Business Committee for the Arts, and Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Kitchen Dog Theater, with the support of its professionally diverse Board of Trustees, continues to grow in its participation with and its responsibility to the community in which it lives. For Kitchen Dog Theater, theater is, by definition, a place of community - a vibrant dialogue between the artist and audience that is essential to our humanity.

Production History

1991
MUD Maria Irene Fornes

1991-92
DAMNEE MANON/SACREE SANDRA, Michael Tremblay
CREDITORS, August Strindberg
THE WOODS, David Mamet

1992-93
CHARMER, John Clancy
THREE BY BECKETT, Samuel Beckett
THE SWAN, Elizabeth Egloff

1993-94
SORE THROATS, Howard Brenton
AMERICAN BUFFALO, David Mamet
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, Ariel Dorfman

1994-95
ZASTROZZI, George F. Walker
WOMEN'S VOICES, C. Gilmore and Charles Tidler
FOOL FOR LOVE, Sam Shepard
THE PITCHFORK DISNEY, Philip Ridley

1995-96
OEDIPUS, Sophocles
MISS JULIE, August Strindberg
NOBODY HERE BUT US CHICKENS, Peter Barnes
OLEANNA, David Mamet

1996-97
PORCELAIN, Chay Yew
HAMLET, William Shakespeare
TRUE WEST, Sam Shepard
DOG SHOW, Samuel Beckett

1997-98
THE BALTIMORE WALTZ, Paula Vogel
THE TEMPEST, William Shakespeare
BELOW THE BELT, Richard Dresser
THE GLASS MENAGERIE, Tennessee Williams

1998-99
IN THE JUNGLE OF CITIES, Bertolt Brecht
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, William Shakespeare
WAITING FOR GODOT, Samuel Beckett
FUR, Migdalia Cruz
ISAAC, David Schulner

1999-2000
OTHELLO, William Shakespeare
ROAD, Jim Cartwright
ONE FLEA SPARE, Naomi Wallace
WHO'S AFRAID OFVIRGINIA WOOLF?, Edward Albee
FUGITIVE PIECES, Caridad Svich

2000-2001
ROMEO & JULIET, William Shakespeare
THE CHINESE ART OF PLACEMENT, Stanley Rutherford
ACT OF PASSION, John Tyson
WHISPER David Goodwin
KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, Manuel Puig
CHRISTIE IN LOVE, Howard Brenton
THE FASTEST CLOCK IN THE UNIVERSE, Philip Ridley
EIGHTEEN, Allison Moore
THE VIRGIN PROJECT, Bill Lengfelder and David Goodwin

2001-2002
THROUGH THE LEAVES, Franz Xaver Kroetz
SOME EXPLICIT POLAROIDS, Mark Ravenhill
CAPTAIN REDWING'S TRAVELING JUGGLING SHOW, Bill Lengfelder
RECKLESS, Craig Lucas
REBOUND AND GAGGED, Aaron Ginsburg
CORIOLANUS, William Shakespeare
LAUGHING WILD, Christopher Durang
BARBETTE, Bill Lengfelder and David Goodwin

2002-2003
HAPPY DAYS, Samuel Beckett
THE GOOD THIEF, Conor McPherson
KING LEAR, William Shakespeare
HEAVEN, George F. Walker
THE JUNIPER TREE, Wendy Kesselman
BASH, Neil LaBute
IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST, Jack Henry Abbott, edited by Adrian Hall
¡CURANDERAS! SERPENTS OF THE CLOUDS, Elaine Romero

2003-2004
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask
THE DANUBE, Maria Irene Fornes
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, William Shakespeare
THE MERCY SEAT, Neil LaBute
PERMANENT COLLECTION, Thomas Gibbons

2004-2005
JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN, Stephen Adly Guirgis
CIRCUMFERENCE OF A SQUIRREL, John Walch
THE DEAD MONKEY, Nick Darke
BURIED CHILD, Sam Shepard
HAZARD COUNTY, Allison Moore

2005-2006
BUG, Tracy Letts
DEBBIE DOES DALLAS, E. Schmidt, S. Schwartz, and A. Sherman
ON AN AVERAGE DAY, John Kolvenbach
CLOUD TECTONICS, José Rivera
NICKEL AND DIMED, Joan Holden
RAW VISION, Leslie A. Wade

2006-2007
FAT PIG, Neil LaBute
JESUS HATES ME, Wayne Lemon
WOYZECK, Georg Buchner
MR. MARMALADE, Noah Haidle
END TIMES, Allison Moore

2007-2008
MAN FROM NEBRASKA, Tracy Letts
OUR LADY OF 121ST STREET, Stephen Adly Guirgis
TRESTLE AT POPE LICK CREEK, Naomi Wallace
RICHARD III, William Shakespeare
SICK, Zayd Dohrn

2008-2009
THE PILLOWMAN, Martin McDonagh
THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA?, Edward Albee
PSYCHOS NEVER DREAM, Denis Johnson
TITUS ANDRONICUS, William Shakespeare, adapted by Leah Spillman & Lee Trull
JIHAD JONES AND THE KALASHNIKOV BABES, Yussef El Guindi

2009-2010
VIGILS, Noah Haidle
SLASHER, Allison Moore
BOOM, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
THE SEAGULL, Anton Chekhov
LONG WAY GO DOWN, Zayd Dohrn

2010-2011
BETRAYAL, Harold Pinter
CHARM, Kathleen Cahill
MACBETH, William Shakespeare
3 FOOTE, Horton Foote
PONZI, Elaine Romero