Undermain Theatre Names Erin Malone Turner As 2026 Recipient Of Katherine Owens Fund For New Work

Undermain Theatre has announced playwright Erin Malone Turner as the 2026 recipient of the Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work. The award includes $10,000 in support of Turner’s ongoing work in American theatre, with the intention of developing a new play for a future production at Undermain in Dallas.

Established in 2019 following the death of founding Artistic Director Katherine Owens, the fund was created by Producing Artistic Director Bruce DuBose and the Undermain Theatre Board of Trustees to support new, language-driven work for the stage. The initiative continues Owens’ legacy of fostering new plays and artists in the American theatre landscape.

Turner is a Dallas-based theatre artist originally from New Orleans whose writing has been developed with companies including Kitchen Dog Theater, Undermain Theatre, Amphibian Stage, Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Echo Theatre, UT Arlington’s Black Theatre Society, and SheDFW Arts. Her commissioned play what fits inside a human heart premiered with Soul Repertory Theatre and received a nomination for an Irma P. Hall Black Theatre Award for Best Play.

She has participated in multiple playwriting cohorts, including Bishop Arts Theatre Center’s First Move and Second Thought Theatre’s Thought Process, and was named a Summer Sanctuary Artist-in-Residence with Arts Mission Oak Cliff. During that residency, she presented new work through readings, workshops, and community programming.

As an actor, Turner has appeared with Echo Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theater, Plague Mask Players, Sundown Collaborative Theatre, and Second Thought Theatre, in addition to performing in her own plays. Her training includes work with The Playground Acting Program, Stomping Ground Comedy, and Fort Worth Actors Studio, and she has studied playwriting with Amy Berryman. Turner has also worked as a youth playwriting teaching artist and served as assistant director of The Niceties at Theatre Three.

From 2021 to 2023, Turner was mentored by Audra McDonald through the Age in the Arts Program, an experience she credits with encouraging her to take greater artistic risks while refining her voice.

Undermain Theatre, which has produced new work for more than four decades, will continue to use the Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work to support artists developing original plays for the stage.

Ticket Information

Undermain Theatre is based in Dallas. Additional information about upcoming productions and programming is available through the company.