Durango Arts Repertory Theatre Is proud to present our 2024 Theatrical Season at the DAC:
Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem!
Hand to God, Written by Robert Askins, Directed by Michael McKelvey
March 15 – 31, 2024
In the tiny, conservative town of Cypress, Texas, the shy, mild-mannered Jason is just trying to be a good son. When he joins his mother Margery’s Christian Puppet Ministry at the local church, Jason discovers a burgeoning talent for puppetry, and it seems like things, after his father’s sudden death, might just turn out okay. Tyrone the puppet, though, has other plans. As the foul-mouthed, independent, and devilishly funny Tyrone grows in strength, Jason’s complex relationships with the school bully, the girl-next-door, and most importantly, his mother, are thrown into upheaval. An irreverent, occasionally shocking, and perpetually hysterical romp to hell and back, Hand To God’s exploration of the ideas of faith, morality, and human nature will leave you sore with laughter.
14th Annual 10 minute Play Festival
May 24 – 26, 2024
We are bringing a new feel to our Annual Play Festival that accepts scripts from both professional and brand new playwrights from around the globe. This year we are requesting plays that embrace our Season of Mystery, Murder and Mayhem! After our panel of readers choose their stand out scripts, DART will fully produce 8 to 10 of these World Premiere 10 minute plays, showcasing the amazing talents of new writers, actors and directors for a winning weekend of never before seen Theatre.
I Hate Hamlet, Written by Paul Rudnick, Directed by Monica DiBiasio
July 12 – 28, 2024
Television star Andrew Rally is about to start rehearsals to play Hamlet—and he is terrified. Unsure of himself, worried about his career, Andrew doesn’t know what to do. In the midst of his confusion, he is visited by the ghost of legendary actor John Barrymore. Barrymore explains that all actors who take on the role are visited and mentored by their predecessors, and that he cannot leave Andrew until he takes the stage as Hamlet. Andrew’s girlfriend wants him to be a romantic hero of the stage, his friend wants him to accept a lucrative new TV gig, and Barrymore wants him to accept his own great theatrical mantle. As Andrew grows under Barrymore’s larger-than-life wing, he is forced to confront the ultimate question: who he wants to be, or not to be.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Written by Rupert Holmes, Directed by Jenny Fitts Reynolds
August 16 – Sept. 1, 2024
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a hilarious, interactive whodunit mystery musical that allows the audience to enter the action and become the ultimate detectives. The show is based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel of the same name. In the small town of Chesterham, England, the young and charming Edwin Drood has been mysteriously murdered. But by whom? His leering romantic rival, John Jasper? The infamous purveyor of opium and vice, Princess Puffer? The mysterious Landless twins, newly arrived from Ceylon? Or someone else even more dastardly and villainous? Dickens passed away before he was able to reveal the culprit. Rupert Holmes’ award-winning musical solves this predicament by asking the audience to choose which character is the killer by putting it to a vote. Staged in metatheatrical manner by the Music Hall Royale, a traveling Victorian theatre troupe full of just as many colorful characters as the roles they play, this charming and inventive musical is sure to intrigue and entertain any musical or mystery lover.
Wait Until Dark, Written by Frederick Knotts, Directed by Michael Grais
September 13 – 29, 2024
Frederick Knott’s thriller is the story of Susy Hendrix, a recently blinded housewife who unwittingly possesses a doll filled with illicit drugs. Harry Roat, a brutal and sophisticated criminal, coerces two small-time thugs into helping him con Susy into giving up the doll. A battle of wits ensues as Susy and the young girl upstairs launch a counterplot against the thieves. The drama plays on the themes of darkness and light as Susy navigates through her sightless world, and the crooks signal each other with light through the Venetian blinds.
The Rocky Horror Show, Written by Richard O’Brien, Directed by Jenny Fitts Reynolds
October 25,26,30,31 and Nov. 1 and 2, 2024
One fateful night, Brad Majors and his fiancée, Janet Weiss — a wholesome, well-behaved, utterly normal young couple in love — innocently set out to visit an old professor. Unfortunately for them, this night out is destined to be one they will never forget. A thunderstorm and a flat-tire force them to seek help at the castle of Dr. Frank ’N’ Furter, an alien, transvestite scientist with a manic genius and insatiable libido. Brad, Janet, and Frank’ N’ Furter’s cohorts are swept up into the scientist’s latest experiment. The night’s misadventures will cause Brad and Janet to question everything they’ve known about themselves, each other, love, and lust. A loving homage to the classic B sci-fi film and horror genres with an irresistible rock’n’roll score, The Rocky Horror Show is a hilarious, wild ride that no audience will soon forget…which is why we are so pleased to host it and shout out with you!
The 4th Annual 24 hr Theatre!
November 15 and 16, 2024
Join us for the mayhem that IS 24hr Theatre! Writers will receive prompts, suggestions of set, characters, dialogue, on Friday evening at 7pm. By 7pm on Saturday those prompts have been turned into scripts, cast, rehearsed, and are ready to hit the stage for a night of One Night Only theatrical magic! From page to stage in 24 hours!
Get your tickets here!
We are gonna MURDER it in 2024, no MYSTERY in making excellent theatre, you just mix in a little MAYHEM and GO!
