Victoria Schwarz

From November 13–23, The VORTEX offered a rare kind of theatrical experience: intimate, sensory-rich, and brimming with imagination. In the Pony Shed, a small outbuilding that seats roughly twenty audience members, the regional premiere of Morgan McKenzie Kauffman’s DORA’S GENTLY USED DREAMS STORE unfolded like a dream itself; unusual, tender, and full of hidden treasures waiting to be discovered.

From November 14 - December 6, Different Stages offers an evening of classic mystery and refined theatrical craft in poresnting Mark Shanahan’s adaption of Agatha Christie’s THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD at The VORTEX Theatre in Austin.

From October 17-26, City Theatre Austin presents Jon Robin Baitz’s OTHER DESERT CITIES from November 7-23 as part of their 20th season.

From November 24 to December 7, The Wimberley Players present Jones Hope Wooten’s CHRISTMAS BELLES at The Wimberley Playhouse as part of their 2025 season.

From October 17-26, Broke Thespian’s Theatre Company presented Christopher Yergel’s THE OUTSIDERS at the Maurice T. Suttles VFW Post 3413 in San Marcos. THE OUTSIDERS is a coming-of-age drama set in 1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma, that follows Ponyboy Curtis, a sensitive teenager from the working-class Greasers gang, as he navigates the tensions between his group and the wealthier Socs.

Gaslight-Baker Theatre’s production of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW is a wild, glittering, and gloriously unrestrained night of theatre that shouldn’t be missed.

From July 25 to August 10, City Theatre of Austin presents Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play W;T as part of its 2025 season. See more from the review here!

From April 25 to May 11, the Bastrop Opera House presents Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak’s hilarious musical A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER as part of its 2025 season.

From April 25 to May 18, The Wimberley Playhouse proudly presents LEND ME A SOPRANO, Ken Ludwig’s side-splitting comedy adapted from his beloved hit Lend Me a Tenor. Set in 1934, the story is set in a hotel room while the Cleveland Grand Opera Company waits in anticipation of a one-night-only performance by world-famous soprano Elena Firenzi, starring as Carmen.

From April 11-26, Austin Rainbow Theatre presents Lane Michael Stanley’s LIPSTICK at the Ground Floor Theatre. LIPSTICK combines farcical humor with heartfelt emotion, serving as a love letter to the queer community with its sharp dialogue, vibrant characters, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

From March 28 to April 6, Broke Thespian’s Theatre Company presented Lauren Yee’s HOOKMAN at the VFW Post 3413 in San Marcos. HOOKMAN is a dark comedy thriller that follows Lexi, a new college student navigating the struggles of homesickness, a quirky roommate, and a campus under siege by a hook-handed serial killer targeting young women.

The VORTEX Theatre, supported in part by the Save Our Springs Alliance, the Texas Commission on the Arts, TreeFolks, the City of Austin Economic Development Department, ATX Theatre, and Six Square Austin’s Black Cultural District, presents the world premiere of MOTHERTREE by Bonnie Cullum and Sarah Saltwick on their Eloise Stage from March 27 to April 20.

From March 28 to April 6, Bastrop Opera House presents LEND ME A TENOR as part of their 2025 season. A farce written by Ken Ludwig, LEND ME A TENOR is set in 1930s Cleveland, revolving around a chaotic evening at the opera. The story begins when world-famous tenor Tito Merelli, set to perform the lead role in Otello, is mistakenly believed to have died after a night of excessive drinking. In a panic, the opera company’s manager, Henry Saunders, enlists his assistant, Max, to impersonate Merelli and take his place on stage.

From March 28 to April 13, Gaslight-Baker Theatre presents ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, sponsored by Doug and Shari Foster, as part of their 2025 season. Written by Joseph Ketterling, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE is a dark comedy that centers on Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic who discovers that his sweet elderly aunts, Abby and Martha, have been poisoning lonely, kinless men with arsenic-laced elderberry wine as part of their self-discerned and misguided “charity” work.