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.