BWW Q&A: Jonathan Norton on Crafting the 2025/2026 Season at Dallas Theater Center

Dallas Theater Center’s 2025–2026 season offers a carefully curated blend of comedy, music, drama, and innovation, reflecting the company’s continued commitment to community-centered storytelling. The season was selected by Interim Artistic Director and resident playwright Jonathan Norton, whose original work Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem will receive its world premiere at the end of the season. Norton’s programming invites audiences across Dallas and beyond to experience theater that is reflective, resonant, and representative of diverse voices.

The 2025–26 season lineup includes:

• Noises Off by Michael Frayn

• Fat Ham by James Ijames (regional premiere)

• Where We Stand (regional premiere)

• Ragtime the musical

• Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem by Jonathan Norton (world premiere)

Founded in 1959, Dallas Theater Center has long been a leader in the regional theater movement, with a history rooted in artistic risk-taking and community engagement. Norton’s selections continue that tradition, while pointing to the future of what theater can be in Dallas.

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What was the inspiration behind choosing the plays for the 2025–2026 season at the Dallas Theater Center?

I always like to think that DTC’s audience is this entire DFW metroplex. And I want for our plays to reach everyone from the school bus driver to the president of the university. That’s a very diverse group of people and backgrounds. Creating theater that can thrill and inspire such a broad audience really excites me. So, in selecting the season, I was looking for stories that can bring all these different communities together. I’m not interested in – this story is for this audience – and this story is for that audience. I want to create stories where we can all go on the same journey together. I believe that kind of theater will always have the most meaningful impact.

How does the upcoming season reflect your vision as the Interim Artistic Director?

If you look back at DTC’s history starting with our founder Paul Baker– from Hamlet ESP, to Jack Ruby, All-American Boy, and the works of Preston Jones, DTC has always been home for innovative new work. And in the 1990’s we also championed the work of artists like Suzan-Lori Parks, Eric Overmyer and Octavio Solis. In this century we’ve produced the work of recent Pulitzer Prize Winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Sarah DeLappe and Karen Zacarías – and of course me. Innovative new work is very much a part of our DNA and our audiences expect that from us, too. I am so fortunate that our history supports such an expansive vision.

Can you tell us more about your original play, Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes At Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem?

Sure! It takes a look at two icons – Malcolm X and Redd Foxx – before they were icons and struggling to find their way. And it imagines the ways they each shaped the other. The play was inspired by a passage in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, where Malcolm X talks about his time working with Redd Foxx at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem. Oh, and back in April of 2024, I got to visit the site of Jimmy’s Chicken Shack, but it is now a great Ethiopian restaurant.

How do you think this play will resonate with the Dallas community?

Actually, I am curious myself to see how it resonates here. It's had readings and workshops in NYC and TheatreSquared (the theater that commissioned the play) but Dallas audiences have yet to experience it in any fashion. That is unusual for me because my plays typically start here. But this one will not. It opens at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AR. Then it goes on to City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, then Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk, VA and then it comes here in May of 2026. But I am so excited for my hometown audience to experience my work after it's been developed and had a few productions elsewhere. That will be a new experience for me.

What conversations are you hoping to spark with your play, Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes At Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem?

This is a play that celebrates friendship. And it makes us consider our responsibility to our friends and loved ones. This sounds cheesy but I really want people to call their friends after the show, better yet – bring their friends – and even better than that – leave the theater with the determination to check-in on a friend they’ve lost contact with. You never know how the simple act of an unannounced loving check-in can make all the difference in a friend’s life. And it can make a difference in your life, too, because they might offer a lifeline you never knew you needed.

Can you share any challenges you faced during the curation process for this season?

The biggest challenge is letting go of plays and musicals you’re not able to program in the season. But I continue to hold a flame for those works and hope that they can eventually find a home at DTC in a later season. And even when I can’t program something, I am always championing the work and artists I love to other theaters here in the DFW and nationally.

How have you balanced honoring the theater’s legacy with introducing new and innovative works in this season?

DTC has a long tradition of championing new voices and experimenting with theatrical form. That legacy gives me the foundation to take creative risks. This season continues that pattern by pairing beloved works like Ragtime and Noises Off with adventurous storytelling in Fat Ham, Where We Stand, and my own play. It’s not about abandoning the past—it’s about being in conversation with it.

What kind of theater do you believe Dallas needs right now? And how does this season deliver on that?

Dallas needs theater that acknowledges who we are today, not just where we’ve been. We need stories that reflect the complexity of our identities, our politics, our friendships, and our faiths. This season isn’t just entertainment—it’s a conversation, a catalyst, and an invitation for connection.

How does your identity as a playwright shape the way you approach artistic direction?

I think being a playwright helps me champion new work with a level of care and curiosity that I hope other playwrights can feel. I know what it means to build something from scratch and I know the vulnerability that comes with putting a new story in front of an audience. That informs everything—from how I select seasons to how I support artists during the process.

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