The Boy From the Circus: A love letter to a ghost, is an experiment in queering the closeted cannon of the playwright William Inge. Named for Inge’s final novel returned to him the day before he commited suicide, our work aims to open a channel to Inge and invite him to stand in the center of his own queer desire as we do the same. Through a mash up of his text and our own we hope to give his ghost a gift he may never forgive us for.

THE CATARACT
By Lisa D’Amour
Directed by Will Davis

Set in Minneapolis in 1883, this poetic drama explores one week in the lives of Cyrus and Lottie Finch, a stalwart couple who take in two vagabond lovers from the South. The unlikely pairs’ intersection unearths their deep-seated desires – ones which they fight to keep buried.

“The University of Texas Department of Theatre & Dance production has been thoughtfully, purposefully crafted – words, action, and design coalesce into something complete. Director Will (formerly Daria) Davis sculpts a stylized world that gently cradles the script’s complexity. With the director’s keen eye and the cast’s fine performances, we empathize with the foursome at their most naturalistic – the women giggling as they share secrets, the men guffawing over beers at the saloon – and feel far away indeed in their strangeness – narrating their days, staring out the fourth wall, pulling flowers out of their eyes…Stepping out of The Cataract’s magical world, I felt a little more beautiful and a little more pensive. I’m searching for the unexpected in my daily grind.” – Jillian Owens, The Austin Chronicle

The Chronicles of Bad Ass Women
By Holli Gipson
Directed by Daria Davis

The Chronicles of Bad Ass Women is a collection of outlawed histories retold through the legends of four women: Sally Skull, Etta Place, Bonnie Parker and Janis Joplin. Gipson’s story unearths these women’s legacies, their disappointments, their mistakes and their desires, giving voice to the forgotten and reshaping the past.

Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Scenic and Prop Design by Rowan Doyle
Light Design by Kate Leahy
Costume Design by Yao Chen
Sound Design by Miles Polaski

“With direction by Daria Davis so precise that it rendered the complex production seamless…A runaway train screeching straight out of hell.”

“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was easily one of the most effective and meticulous productions I’ve seen in Austin.” - Jillian Owens, The Austin Chronicle

“On-the-mark acting, beautifully dark scenic and costume designs, and the direction work all meld to create an ironically unified vision for this story about split personalities.” – Claire Christine Spera, Austin-American Statesman

Interview with the College of Fine Arts at UT Austin

Stockpile is a site-specific exploration into hoarding, love, and cold-war anxiety as seen through the eyes of squirrels. Performed on the sprawling LBJ lawn, Stockpile finds one squirrel scurry pitted against a newly formed other. As they fight over litter, lost nuts, and half-eaten muffins, will peace prevail? Will we get caught up in the battle?

Creative Team:
Daria Davis- director
Gabrielle Reisman- playwright
Dimitri Gonzalez- technician, director’s assistant

Actor Ensemble:
Brian Bogart
Juan Buitrago
Michelle Dahlenburg
Anna Fleury
Lindsey Newman

by Martyna Majok

Scenic Design by Bill Anderson
Prop Design by Kat Powers
Puppet Design by Sarah Bendix
Light Design by Kyle Land
Jeff Award for Best Sound Design by Miles Polaski

Slideshow of photos and sound from Mouse in a Jar by Sound Designer Miles Polaski.

“Gripping” and “Sophisticated”
- Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune

“Gut-wrenching surrealism…Nothing short of stunning.”
-Christopher Shea, Time Out Chicago

“Creepily eloquent.”
- Lawrence Bommer, Chicago Reader

Editor’s Pick – Time Out Chicago
Highly Recommended- SteadStyle Chicago