History 2022-2023 I Love HPT written and performed by Ken Webster September 16 - October 8, 2022 A FUNDRAISER! Ken Webster loves HPT, and he's here to tell you all about it--for a good cause, raising money for the theater. HPT turns 40 this year. and in its honor Artistic Director Ken Webster will perform his monologue I Love HPT, a history of the space including tales of Webster's 43 years in local theatre. Funny, charming, chatty, and every dime goes to the theater.   FronteraFest 2023 January 17 - February 18, 2023 First festival since the pandemic! The 27th season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, The Long Fringe, BYOV, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   St. Nicholas by Conor McPherson March 16 - 18, 2023 & March 30 - April 22, 2023 A drunken Irish theater critic finds himself in the employ of vampires. featuring Ken Webster. "Overflows with powerful imagery . . . riveting theatre. . . miraculous . . . leaves the audience pretty damn euphoric."- Austin Chronicle   Chronicles of an Indigenous Offspring written and performed by Zell Miller, III May 11 - June 3, 2023 A therapeutic exhale that documents growing up black in Austin, Texas. A love letter to cultural landmarks that have been erased from the city's consciousness, Chronicles also exposes the city's dark past. Photographer Ivan Miller's black-and-white images establish a striking visual environment, and Miller's longtime musical collaborator Thomas "Hitman" Wheeler on percussion creates a funky sonic landscape. Together with Miller's masterful storytelling, they make a three-dimensional theatrical experience. Presented with ZM3ProductionsLive.   Radio :30 by Chris Earle June 22 - July 15, 2023 The acclaimed dark comedy about a hotshot voice talent who falters while recording a 30-second radio spot. Winner of the Canadian Comedy Award (and you know those Canadians are funny) and the Chalmers New Play Award. Featuring Mical Trejo (Confessions of a Mexpatriate); directed by Ken Webster.     2021-2022 HPT was dark for the first three-fourths of this season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Running Bear by Raul Garza June 16 - July 16, 2022 HPT is back with Raul Garza's beautifully written two-hander, Running Bear. This play was our pick for our 2021 Summer New Play Workshop. A successful middle-aged man returns to his hometown for a well-earned victory lap and finds himself on a walking bridge with a 17 year-old girl with quite a story to tell. Directed by Rosalind Faires, the play features Mical Trejo and Macy Butler.   Judith initial concept by Olivia D'Ambrosio Scanlon, written by Katie Bender August 4 - September 3, 2022 Judith, dressed as a man, moves to London to stand trial in her absent brother's place. When the trial goes badly, Judith begins to write plays to please the Queen and restore her brother's good name. A solo show about ambition, artistry, love and Shakespeare, directed by Madge Darlington and featuring Taylor Flanagan.       2020-2021 HPT was dark this entire season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.     2019-2020 Hot Dogs at the Eiffel Tower by Maggie Gallant September 5 - October 5, 2019 Fresh from the Winnipeg Fringe, written and performed by Maggie Gallant. What kind of parent KNITS their daughter a wool swimsuit? Or gives her a briefcase for her 11th birthday? Or keeps her in the dark about where she came from? British comedian Maggie Gallant shares her childhood embarrassments and adulthood discoveries as she unleashes a Pandora's Box of hope, lies, and un très magnifique French Papa! "Funny, French, and fantastic" - Theater Jones, Dallas; "Charismatic quirkiness" - Austin Chronicle   FronteraFest 2020 January 14 - February 15, 2020 The 27th season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, The Long Fringe, BYOV, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   House by Daniel MacIvor February 27 - March 28, 2020 The long-awaited return of this wildly popular one-man show starring Ken Webster, originally produced by HPT in 1999, 2001, and 2009. Victor, the hero of Daniel MacIvor's dark and furiously funny piece, takes you on a whirlwind tour of the offices, circus tents, supermarkets, Ramada Inns, sewers, dreams, and houses that compose the hallucinatory landscape of his life. The Austin American Statesman: "Roaring laughter one moment and stunned silence the next. Webster knows how to grab an audience and hold them until right before they burst. . . . House is a brilliantly crafted, imaginative work that Webster takes to the edge of perfection in his portrayal." NOTE: House ended its run early, on March 14, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the rest of the 2019-2020 season was cancelled.     2018-2019 My Seasons with the Astros, Expos, and Phillies written and performed by Ken Webster September 9, 2018 (ONE NIGHT ONLY) HPT's Producing Artistic Director Ken Webster delves into his strange obsession with former major league catcher John Bateman. Webster's Twitter feed started as a diary of the 1966 Houston Astros season as seen through the eyes of Webster's favorite player from childhood, the late John Bateman. The diary--part fact and part fiction, part baseball and part history and popular culture--has been featured in several stories by sportswriters. Webster describes how he became an amateur historian, chronicling his favorite player and the years 1966-1971. All proceeds benefit Hyde Park Theatre.   Confessions of a Mexpatriate by Raul Garza September 20 - October 20, 2018 In this deeply funny, deeply thought-provoking piece, a Mexican American urban sophisticate who wants to connect with his roots ventures deep into the Mexican interior. Directed by Ken Webster and featuring Mical Trejo.   FronteraFest 2019 January 15 - February 16, 2019 The 26th season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, The Long Fringe, BYOV, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath February 28 - March 30, 2019 When Nora, the wife in Ibsen's A Doll's House, slams the door on her husband, the sound reverberated for a century. Now Lucas Hnath--author of The Christians, one of the most popular plays HPT has ever produced--has followed up fifteen years later, when Nora returns to face what she left behind. The New York Times called the play, which uses modern (and sometimes strong) language, "smart, funny and utterly engrossing." The San Jose Mercury News called it "furiously smart and surprising." Nominated for eight 2017 Tony Awards, more than any other play that season. Directed by Ken Webster, featuring Katherine Catmull, Tom Green, Sarah Chong Harmer, and Cyndi Williams.   Death Tax by Lucas Hnath June 27 - July 27, 2019 Maxine has weeks to live--and she thinks her daughter is paying her nurse to make sure she dies before new, higher death taxes kick in next month. She's wrong--but she offers the nurse a good chunk of change to keep her alive instead. "This is only the beginning of a tangled web of lies, deceptions, betrayals and double-dealings . . . Every line spoken within each scene ups the ante and reorders the deck until the final moments of this taut, dramatic, darkly funny play. Entertaining, thought-provoking, profoundly disturbing": Chicago Theatre Review. HPT's production stars Chase Brewer, Lana Dieterich, Sarah Chong Harmer, and Web Jerome. Directed by Ken Webster.     2017-2018 The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe September 21 - October 21, 2017 Nine teenage girls make a soccer team--and a New York Times Critic's Pick for Best Theatre of 2016: "Girl power is atomic in The Wolves, the incandescent portrait of an indoor soccer team. The scary, exhilarating brightness of raw adolescence emanates from every scene of this uncannily assured first play by Sarah DeLappe." Directed by Ken Webster. FronteraFest 2018 January 16 - February 17, 2018 The historic 25th season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, BYOV, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works. Wakey, Wakey by Will Eno March 1 - 31, 2018 From the playwright of HPT hit Thom Pain (based on nothing) and others: The New York Times made it a Critics' Pick and wrote, "Though the man telling the jokes is sitting down (he's in a wheelchair), dying is a stand-up routine in Wakey, Wakey, the glowingly dark, profoundly moving new play by Will Eno." Featuring Ken Webster and Rebecca Robinson. Tickets available now. The Antipodes by Annie Baker July 5 - August 4, 2018 The New York Times wrote, "Just exactly how many kinds of stories are there, anyway? The tallies vary in 'The Antipodes,' Annie Baker's in-all-ways fabulous new play about professional fabulators in pursuit of the ultimate yarn. Endlessly fascinating. Deeply funny. 'The Antipodes' leaves you glowing with a wondering satisfaction." Directed by Ken Webster, featuring Lowell Bartholomee, Tom Green, Anne Hulsman, Maria Latiolais, Saurabh Pradhan, Blake Robbins, Mical Trejo, Shanon Weaver, and Dave Yakubik.   2016-2017 Lungs by Duncan Macmillan September 23 - October 22, 2016 In a time of global anxiety, terrorism, erratic weather and political unrest, a young couple want a child but are running out of time. If they overthink it, they'll never do it. But if they rush, it could be a disaster. They want to have a child for the right reasons. Except what exactly are the right reasons? And what will be the first to destruct--the planet or the relationship? Starring Liz Beckham and Michael Joplin. Directed for HPT by Lily Wolff. > "Both uproariously funny and unbearably poignant . . . an engaging and poignant piece." - Exeunt Magazine "Duncan Macmillan's distinctive, off-kilter love story is brutally honest, funny, edgy and current. It gives voice to a generation for whom uncertainty is a way of life . . . bravely written, startlingly structured." - The Guardian FronteraFest 2017 January 17 - February 18, 2017 The 24th season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works. John by Annie Baker March 2 - April 1, 2017 From the Pulitzer-prize-winning playwright of HPT hits The Flick, The Aliens, Circle Mirror Transformation, and Body Awareness: At a bed & breakfast in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a weird and cheerful innkeeper greets a young couple who are struggling to stay together. In this play, Baker's hyper-realism bleeds into the eerily supernatural. The New Yorker: "So good on so many levels that it casts a unique and brilliant light." Directed by Ken Webster. Starring Katherine Catmull, Lana Dietetionrich, Catherine Grady, and Zac Thomas. The Moors by Jen Silverman July 6 - August 5, 2017 Picture the Brontë sisters, but with American accents. Picture a large dog falling in obsessive love with a small bird. Picture a dark, satirical comedy that will haunt you like a strange dream. Come see one of the first productions in the country of a play The New York Times called "inspired . . . rolls out like the stuff of dreams . . . This is the reason we go to theater." Directed by Ken Webster.

2015-2016 The Quarry by Greg Pierce September 24 - October 24, 2015 Only the second production in the country of this new work by the playwright of HPT's award-winning smash hit Slowgirl. After a series of unsettling discoveries in a marble-quarry town in Vermont, antisocial widow Jean McClain decides to conduct her own investigation. A funny and surreal detective story with a haunting original score by Randal Pierce. "An intriguing play, haunting and strangely magical." (Burlington Free Press). "Delightful storytelling, fascinating and quirky . . . Unexpected and satisfying." (Rutland Herald) Featuring Chase Brewer, Katherine Catmull, Jess Hughes, and Ken Webster. Directed by Ken Webster. FronteraFest 2016 January 12 - February 13, 2016 The 23rd season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works. The Realistic Joneses by Will Eno February 25 - March 26, 2016 "Plays as funny and moving, as wonderful and weird as The Realistic Joneses, by Will Eno, do not appear often on Broadway. Or ever, really. . . . Easily his most accessible play . . . The Realistic Joneses brought me a pleasurable rush virtually unmatched by anything I've seen this season." That's the New York Times raving about the 2014 Broadway run of this marvelous play. When Bob and Jennifer meet new neighbors John and Pony, they find they have much more in common than identical homes and shared last names. Hilarious, tender, unforgettable. Featuring Jess Hughes, Rebecca Robinson, Benjamin Summers, and Ken Webster. Directed by Ken Webster. The Flick by Annie Baker July 7 - August 6, 2016 Winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize, The Flick is another exquisite play from Annie Baker, who wrote three of HPT's biggest-ever hits: The Aliens, Circle Mirror Transformation, and Body Awareness. The New York Times called this wistful, funny, moving story of a friendship between three young movie-theater workers "a work of art so strange and fresh . . . infinitely touching." Featuring Delanté G. Keys, Katie Kohler, and Shanon Weaver. Directed by Ken Webster.   2014-2015   A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter September 25- October 25, 2014 The break room of a Hobby Lobby in Boise, Idaho is the setting for Samuel D. Hunter's savagely funny and deeply moving story of a man reconnecting with the teenage son he hasn't seen since the boy was an infant. Directed by Ken Webster. FronteraFest 2015 January 13 - February 14, 2015 The 22nd season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works. The Christians by Lucas Hnath February 26 - March 28, 2015 We turn HPT into the smallest megachurch in North America for the first production of this marvelous new work since its premiere at the 2014 Humana Festival. The New York Times, reviewing all the new plays at that festival, called The Christians "the finest of the bunch. . . . smart, stimulating . . .[Hnath] is quickly emerging as one of the brightest new voices of his generation." This play about faith and doubt takes U-turns from hilarious to wrenching and back. Don't miss this one. Featuring Ken Webster, Katherine Catmull, Tom Green, Joey Hood, and Jessica Hughes. Directed by Ken Webster. The Night Alive by Conor McPherson July 9 - August 8, 2015 From the playwright who gave us earlier HPT hits like St. Nicholas, The Good Thief, and Port Authority: a play that the New York Times called "extraordinary. The play can only be called transcendent." The Wall Street Journal called The Night Alive "a stunner. So fresh and full of vital poetry that you'll cling to every word." Time Out New York called it "a spellbinding and absolutely gorgeous new play by one of the true poets of the theater." Featuring Robert Fisher, Tom Green, Joey Hood, Jessica Hughes, and Ken Webster. Directed by Ken Webster.   2013-2014 Tragedy: a tragedy by Will Eno September 12 - October 12, 2013 "A charming display of witty satire in the face of Armageddon. . . . this 75-minute play serves as a big ol' poke in the eye to media in an age of geopolitical uncertainty, pending disaster, and a preoccupation with ratings." - Theatermania. Directed by Ken Webster.   FronteraFest 2014 January 14 - February 15, 2014 The 21st season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey March 27 - April 26, 2014 "Drawer Boy" as in "the one who draws." After ten years, we're bringing back one of the most popular and critically accplaimed shows HPT has ever done. That production won Outstanding Drama from the B. Iden Payne Awards and Outstanding Comedy from the Austin Critics Table--yes, it's that kind of show. It's 1972, and two aging farmers encounter an eager young actor whose theater collective is writing play about farming. One farmer is stern and curmudgeonly; the other's war injury has cost him his memory. They share secrets from the boy and from each other. Hilarious, surprising, and infinitely moving. Starring Michael Stuart (winner of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy for this role, 2005), Ken Webster, and Jon Cook. Directed by Ken Webster (winner of Outstanding Director of a Drama for this show, 2004).   Port Authority by Conor McPherson July 10 - August 9, 2014 From acclaimed Irish playwright Conor McPherson, author of The Weir, Shining City, and two of HPT's biggest past hits, St. Nicholas and The Good Thief: Port Authority is the interconnected story of three generations: a young man falling for his female roommate; a middle-aged alcoholic in a great job he can't handle; and a widower who receives a mysterious package. Hilarious, moving, superb theater. Featuring Tom Green (Fixing King John, Middletown), Nate Jackson (punkplay), and Ken Webster (The Drawer Boy, St. Nicholas), who also directs.   2012-2013   Middletown by Will Eno September 20 - October 20, 2012 An OurTown-inspired piece from the author of HPT's award-winning production of Thom Pain (based on nothing). Last fall, the New York Times praised the play's "screwball lyricism. . . delicate, moving and wry."   FronteraFest 2013 January 15 - February 16, 2013 The nineteenth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   Slowgirl by Greg Pierce March 21 - April 27, 2013 A hilariously chatty teenage girl visits her withdrawn, soft-spoken uncle in the Costa Rican jungle where he retreated five years before. As the week unfolds, the true reason behind her visit, as well as the reasons for his long self-exile, begin to emerge. An exquisitely written and extraordinary play. "Engrossing and impressive. A beautifully crafted play" (Theatermania). "Superb . . . Excellent and subtle new play" (New York Observer). Starring Molly Karrasch and Ken Webster.   Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno July 11 - August 3, 2013 An encore of the one-man piece that won raves from Austin critics and audiences earlier this year. The play the New York Times called "astonishing in its impact" returns in an award-winning performance by HPT Artistic Director Ken Webster. "Imagine what might happen if Jon Stewart and Samuel Beckett had an offspring, and you will likely have envisaged Will Eno's Thom Pain." (theaterscene.net)   2011-2012   Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor September 8 - October 8, 2011 From the author of HPT fave House: an actress who does Chekhov in Toronto basements and drinks too much; a nun who disapproves of big-city talk like "Whatever"; and their peculiar, soap-opera-watching youngest sister. In this bittersweet comedy, three women reluctantly come together over their mother's deathbed. This production reunites the original director and cast of our acclaimed 2002 production, which earned Austin Circle of Theatres (now Austin Creative Alliance) Payne Award nominations for Ken Webster as director and for Emily Erington, Kelsey Kling, and Rebecca Robinson for Outstanding Cast. Rights pending.   FronteraFest 2012 January 17 - February 18, 2012 The nineteenth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   The Aliens by Annie Baker March 22 - April 21, 2012 Annie Baker, the finest young American playwright and author of the 2010 HPT hits Body Awareness and Circle Mirror Transformation, weaves an extraordinary evening from a simple tale of three young slackers talking behind a coffeehouse. The New York Times called it "Gentle and extraordinarily beautiful." This play shared the 2010 Obie Award with Circle Mirror Transformation.   Tigers Be Still by Kim Rosenstock July 12 - August 11, 2012 The San Francisco Chronicle called it "an uproar of laughs." The New York Times called this off-Broadway hit "an endearing new play . . a heartfelt comedy" in which a big cat on the loose from a local zoo fits right in with the anxiety and depression of modern life.   2010-2011 Vigil by Morris Panych September 9 - October 9, 2010 "I spoke to a funeral director today. You don't mind recorded music, do you? Of course not. I don't mean this in a cruel way, but practically speaking, you're the only one who won't have to listen to it." Kemp has come to attend to his dying aunt. But as the play proceeds, it becomes less and less clear what he is doing there, or whether she will ever actually die. We've brought back Ken Webster and Lana Dieterich in a revival of our 2002 production, which won Outstanding Comedy of the Year. Of our 2002 production, the American-Statesman said "impeccable . . . Hyde Park Theatre is on one heck of a roll." The Austin Chronicle said, "Panych's script is an absolute gem, so much so that it almost leaves me speechless." The Daily Texan called the 2002 show "riotously funny."   FronteraFest 2011 January 11 - February 12, 2011 The eighteenth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with ScriptWorks, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   St. Nicholas by Conor McPherson Featuring Ken Webster February 17 - March 12, 2011 In this darkly comic one-man piece by the brilliant Irish storyteller Conor McPherson, a theater critic relates tales of his life among the vampires. This is the much-anticipated revival of our 2006 production, which the Austin Chronicle called "storytelling at its finest . . . a joy to watch," and for which Ken Webster won the Austin Critics Table Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. This time around, critics called it "a smart, nuanced piece of art," "hilarious, harrowing," and "a must see . . . Webster holds the audience utterly spellbound."   A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh directed by Ken Webster April 28 - May 28, 2011 Another hilarious, terrifying black comedy from the playwright who brought you The Pillowman and The Lonesome West. The critics said "You'll find yourself laughing, gasping, even, all the way through," "wry and dry and hilarious." The Good Thief by Conor McPherson featuring Ken Webster July 7 - August 6, 2011 A quiet, hour-long play in which a small-time thug tells of a job gone horribly wrong. Of our production, critics said, "This unsettling yarn of an Irish thug is spun flawlessly by Ken Webster." and "Irish storytelling magic."   2009-2010   The Collection by Harold Pinter directed by Ken Webster September 10 - October 10, 2009 This darkly-comic jewel of a play sizzles with sexual tension as three men and one woman fall into shifting, overlapping triangles of desire and menace. One of Harold Pinter's funniest and most erotically charged works, The Collection features an all-star cast of local actors: Joey Hood, Kelsey Kling, Ian Manners, and Ken Webster.   FronteraFest 2010 January 12 - February 13, 2010 The seventeenth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   The Atheist by Ronan Noone February 18 - March 13, 2010 Wickedly funny dark comedy about a young journalist who is high on ambition and low on scruples. Featuring Joey Hood and directed by Ken Webster.   Body Awareness by Annie Baker April 8 - May 8, 2010 In Annie Baker's hysterically funny new comedy, it's Body Awareness Week at Shirley State College in Vermont, and things don't go very smoothly for the hosts or the guests. Featuring Kenneth Wayne Bradley, Katherine Catmull, Emily Erington, and Stephen Mercantel. Directed by Ken Webster.   Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker July 8 - August 7, 2010 From the playwright who brought you HPT's current hit, Body Awareness, a new play that took New York City by storm last fall. Set in a "creative drama" class, Circle Mirror Transformation is "absorbing, unblinking and sharply funny" according to the New York Times. Directed by Ken Webster.   2008-2009 Blackbird by David Harrower co-production with Capital T Theatre Company directed by Mark Pickell September 11 - October 11, 2008, 2007 Fifteen years ago, Una and Ray had a relationship. They haven't set eyes on each other since. Now she's found him again. The Statesman called the show "a boiling kettle with no vent for the steam" and "one of the most richly challenging plays for audiences this year."   FronteraFest 2009 January 13 - February 14, 2009 The sixteenth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   Bombs in Your Mouth by Corey Patrick February 26 - March 28, 2009 HPT presents the world premiere of this darkly comic piece, in which a brother and sister are re-united at their childhood home for the funeral of their father. Ken Webster directs this brilliant new comedy by one of America's hottest new playwrights.   My Child, My Child, My Alien Child written and performed by Zell Miller, III February 26 - March 28, 2009 The return of Zell Miller's award-winning one-man show is a hilarious and and passionate story about his son crash-landing into his life. The Austin Chronicle called it "Miller very much in Richard Pryor mode . . . utterly engaging."   House by Daniel MacIvor April 30 - May 30, 2009 The much-requested return of this one-man show starring Ken Webster. Victor, the loser inhabiting Daniel MacIvor's dark and furiously funny piece, takes you on a whirlwind tour of the offices, circus tents, supermarkets, Ramada Inns, sewers, dreams, and houses that compose the hallucinatory landscape of his life. The Austin American Statesman: "Roaring laughter one moment and stunned silence the next. Webster knows how to grab an audience and hold them until right before they burst. . . . House is a brilliantly crafted, imaginative work that Webster takes to the edge of perfection in his portrayal."   2007-2008 Featuring Loretta by George F. Walker directed by Ken Webster September 6 - 29, 2007 A woman plagued by too many suitors sits in a cheap motel room contemplating a career as a porn actress. Comical mayhem ensues!   Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno Featuring Ken Webster November 29-December 22, 2007 An encore of the one-man piece that won raves from Austin critics and audiences earlier this year. The play the New York Times called "astonishing in its impact" returns in an award-winning performance by HPT Artistic Director Ken Webster. "Imagine what might happen if Jon Stewart and Samuel Beckett had an offspring, and you will likely have envisaged Will Eno's Thom Pain." (theaterscene.net)   FronteraFest 2008 January 15 - February 16, 2008 The fifteenth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh directed by Ken Webster February 28 - March 29, 2008 In the Irish backwater of Leenane, two brothers live to torment each other, quarreling over everything from potato chips to a sexy teenage bootlegger to what kind of hors d'oeurves to have at their father's funeral. Another savagely funny comedy from the playwright who gave you The Pillowman.   Three from Fronterafest by Daniel MacIvor, Aimée Gonzales Gonzales, & Ken Webster directed by Ken Webster & Jamison Driskill March 3 - 26, 2008 This offnight production was an evening of FronteraFest's greatest hits, with three quirky, funny audience and critical favorites from FronteraFest 1998, 2006, and 2008.   Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead by Bert V. Royal directed by Ken Webster May 15 - June 14, 2008 An off-Broadway hit, Dog Sees God is a highly unauthorized imagining of the high school years of a certain well-known blockhead--let's call him "C.B."--and his best friend, who has given up his security blanket for a mellow buzz; his furious ex-girlfriend; and his ever-changing little sister. For C.B., high school means drugs, rebellion, a penpal gone silent, and worse. Rats.   Spring-Summer 2007 FronteraFest 2007 January 16 - February 17, 2007 The fourteenth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   My Child, My Child, My Alien Child by Zell Miller III Directed by Ken Webster March 22 - April 7, 2007 Another wild, funny, and affecting one-man piece from Zell Miller III, who brought you the multi-award-nominated The Evidence of Silence Broken.   Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno Featuring Ken Webster April 12 - 28, 2007 The one-man piece that shook raves out of the jaded New York critics ("Astonishing in its impact" - New York Times) comes to Austin in a performance by HPT Artistic Director Ken Webster. "Will Eno is a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation." (The Times)   The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh Directed by Ken Webster June 7 - July 21, 2007 (held over) A very black comedy indeed about a short story writer who must answer to the police when his horrifying fictions begin to come true. The New York Times called it "The season's most exciting and original new play . . . appallingly funny, endlessly quotable, delicious and wondrous."   2006 FronteraFest 2006 January 10 - February 11, 2006 The lucky thirteenth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, BYOV, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   The Glory of Living by Rebecca Gilman Directed by Ken Webster Featuring Kelsey Kling, Joey Hood, Ken Bradley, Monika Bustamante, Jude Hickey, Andrea Skola, Jessie Tilton, Ken Webster, and Heather Huggins March 23 - April 15, 2006 Gilman's Pulitzer-nominated play traces the journey of a teenage girl who runs away with an ex-convict only to be drawn into a world of sex, lost innocence, and murder. Chilling, heartbreaking, beautiful.   You're No One's Nothing Special by Ann Marie Healy Directed by Ken Webster May 25 - June 17, 2006 More quirky comedy from the author of 2003's hilarious Something Someone Someplace Else.   Radio :30 By Chris Earle An HPT/Universal Cynic Co-Production Directed by Ken Webster Featuring Mical Trejo and Robert S. Fisher July 13 - August 5, 2006 The return of last season's acclaimed dark comedy about a hotshot voice talent who falters while recording a 30-second radio spot. Winner of the Canadian Comedy Award (and you know those Canadians are funny) and the Chalmers New Play Award.   St. Nicholas by Conor McPherson Featuring Ken Webster September 7 - 29, 2006 In this darkly comic one-man piece by the brilliant Irish storyteller Conor McPherson, a theater critic relates tales of his life among the vampires. The New York Times called it "spooky" and "delectably droll."   365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks Directed by Ken Webster December 12 & 13, 2006 In November 2002, Pulitzer Prize -winning playwright and MacArthur "Genius" Grant awardee Suzan-Lori Parks committed to writing a play a day for the next 365 days. Now, from November 13, 2006 to November 12, 2007 the 365 Days/365 Plays National Festival is presenting the work simultaneously across the country, creating the largest collaboration in the history of American theater. HPT is proud to participate by presenting these seven short plays--tender, hilarious, challenging.

2005 FronteraFest 2005 January 11 - February 12, 2005 It's the twelfth season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, BYOV, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. Start 2005 out right: four out of five doctors recommend getting your yearly dose of edge. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   Pageant By Daniel Macdonald Directed by Ken Webster Featuring Corey Gagne, Kelsey Kling, Jude Hickey, and Robert Matney April 7 - 30, 2005 When a beauty contest winner who is almost, but not quite, perfect hooks up with an overenthusiastic plastic surgeon, her father and the town that raised her take their revenge in this superbly strange black comedy.   Radio :30 By Chris Earle An HPT/Universal Cynic Co-Production Directed by Ken Webster Featuring Mical Trejo and Robert S. Fisher April 11 - 27, 2005 An acclaimed dark comedy about a hotshot voice talent who falters while recording a 30-second radio spot. Winner of the Canadian Comedy Award and the Chalmers New Play Award.   The Water Principle By Eliza Anderson Directed by Ken Webster Featuring Katherine Catmull, Ken Webster, and Joey Hood June 9 - July 2, 2005 In a post-apocalyptic world where the few people left have little to eat, a woman guards the secret of her land from an entrepeneur named Weed who wants to build an amusement park. An extraordinary drama full of dark humor.   The Evidence of Silence Broken By Zell Miller III Directed by Ken Webster Featuring Zell Miller III September 8 - 24, 2005 Poet and playwright Zell Miller's award-winning one-man piece. Not to be missed.   Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll By Eric Bogosian Directed by Andrea Skola Featuring Ken Webster September 29 - October 15, 2005 Artistic Director Ken Webster performs in Eric Bogosian's classic and dangerously funny one-man, multiple-character show.   Chopper By Leah Ryan Directed by Ken Webster October 27 - November 19, 2005 A Southwest premiere. Nominated for the 2004 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Chopper is a hilarious and moving comedy about two young women, friends since childhood, struggling to make their rent and keep their sanity. 2004 FronteraFest 2004 January 13-February 14, 2004 The eleventh anniversary season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, BYOV, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. Start 2004 out right: four out of five doctors recommend getting your yearly dose of edge. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   Blue Surge by Rebecca Gilman directed by Ken Webster March 25 - April 17, 2004 Two small-town undercover cops try to shut down a massage parlor -- but each ends up involved with one of the prostitutes instead. It's a brilliant and darkly comic drama of class struggle, sexual politics, and love gone wrong. Directed by Ken Webster and starring Corey Gagne, Kelsey Kling, Mical Trejo, Shannon Grounds, and Rebecca Robinson.   The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey directed by Ken Webster May 27 -June 19, 2004 "Drawer Boy" as in "the one who draws." In this multi-award-winning play, it's 1971, and two aging farmers encounter an eager young actor whose theater collective is writing play about farming. One farmer is stern and curmudgeonly; the other's war injury has cost him his memory. They share secrets from the boy and from each other. A funny, surprising, and infinitely moving piece.   Ham by Hans Frank WORLD PREMIERE directed by Ken Webster September 2 - 25, 2004 A Democratic county commissioner from the Appalachian region of Southern Ohio takes on the coal mining interests and the Republican Party, in this political thriller by B. Iden Payne Award-winner Hans Frank. 2003 FronteraFest 2003 January 13-February 14, 2003 The tenth anniversary season of this renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. The Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, BYOV, Mi Casa Es Su Teatro--all as unpredictable as ever. Start 2003 out right: four out of five doctors recommend getting your yearly dose of edge. FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.   Something Someone Someplace Else by Ann Marie Healy WORLD PREMIERE directed by Ken Webster March 27 - April 19, 2003 Ronny: Thing is. I'm going to be here longer than I thought. Jeanine: Here at my place? Ronny: Yeah. If that's okay. Only if that's okay with you. I can always get a hotel. Jeanine: Do you have enough money to get a hotel? Ronny: No. Jeanine: How will you be able to get a hotel? Ronny: I won't be able to get a hotel. But I will. If you want me to. This world premiere from New York playwright Ann Marie Healy is a droll and offbeat comedy about a Minnesota woman's hilarious visit with her sister in Manhattan. Adultery, bad poetry, and Billy Joel: just one summer with two very different sisters in the the World's Smallest Studio Apartment.   Quake by Melanie Marnich directed by Ken Webster May 22 -June 14, 2003 The writer of last year's Blur brings a quirky, observant eye to this off-the-wall comedy about a woman's cross-country search for the perfect man. From the hilarious series of potential candidates to the female serial killer our heroine comes to admire, Quake's surreal comic touch is irresistible.   Spy from Mars by Hans Frank July 10 - 26, 2003 HPT joined with GOATSONG PRODUCTIONS to present the continuing saga of Lonely Highway's Sloppy Sean in an evening of transcendentalism, dance routines, and obscure trivia. Appearances by Ken Webster, Travis Dean, Sharon Sparlin and others, plus the strange, wild music of HOGWASH.   Perdita by Monika Bustamante WORLD PREMIERE directed by Ken Webster September 4 - 27, 2003 The world premiere of this dark, intriguing piece by HPT literary manager Monika Bustamante. A college student is tied up in the basement of a kindly couple who insist she is their daughter, returned to them after being missing since childhood. Diabetic, in need of medication, and confused by insulin shock, the girl tries to piece together the truth. ________________ 2002 FronteraFest 2002 January 15-February 16, 2002 The renowned five-week, city-wide, unjuried fringe festival featuring over 800 local and national artists annually. Blur by Melanie Marnich directed by Ken Webster March 21-April 13, 2002 Young Dot grapples with a clingy, slightly crazy mother, a homeless priest, and a collection of offbeat friends, all the while wondering if her eyesight is slipping away forever. The bright-and-dark vision of Melanie Marnich's risky, off-kilter comedy premiered last year at the Manhattan Theatre Club. This HPT production starred Monika Bustamante, Katherine Catmull, Lee Eddy, Corey Gagne, Joey Hood, and David Jones. Critics' Table Award for Outstanding Set Design (Leilah Stewart). Critics' Table nominations for Monika Bustamante and Joey Hood. Austin Circle of Theatres Payne Award nomination for David Jones. Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor directed by Ken Webster May 16 -June 8, 2002 An actress who does Chekhov in Toronto basements and drinks too much; a nun who disapproves of big-city talk like "Whatever"; and their peculiar, soap-opera-watching youngest sister. In this bittersweet comedy, three women reluctantly come together over their mother's deathbed. From the acclaimed author of House and The Soldier Dreams. Ken Webster directed Emily Erington, Kelsey Kling, and Rebecca Robinson in this HPT production. Austin Circle of Theatres Payne Award nominations for Ken Webster (Director) and for Outstanding Cast. Lonely Highway: A Transcendental Minstrel by Hans Frank May 21 -June 5, 2002, and late nights September 7-27, 2002 We liked this 2002 Best of FronteraFest winner so much that we brought it in to run off-nights this spring. Sloppy Sean's act is difficult to describe, but it includes music, wrasslin' references, and a rubber assistant named Yoyo. Bizarre; on the edge; hilarious. Awarded a special "Keeping Austin Weird" citation at the 2002 B. Iden Payne Awards. Vigil by Morris Panych directed by Peck Phillips September 5 - 28, 2002 "I spoke to a funeral director today. You don't mind recorded music, do you? Of course not. I don't mean this in a cruel way, but practically speaking, you're the only one who won't have to listen to it." In keeping with our 2002 deathbed season, Vigil's Kemp has come to attend to his dying aunt. But as the play proceeds, it becomes less and less clear what he is doing there, or whether she will ever actually die. The Globe and Mail called this black comedy "a small masterpiece." Maclean's called it "a devilishly funny play that laughs in death's face." This HPT production starred Ken Webster and Lana Dieterich. Listed in the Austin Chronicle's 2002 Ten Best issue as the first "Most Memorable Theatrical Offering I Chanced to See" and as an Honorable Mention in the "Top Ten Onstage Works of Wonder."

2001   FronteraFest 2001   ________________ in transition: In the spring of 2001, Vicky Boone, the founder of Frontera@Hyde Park Theatre, resigned as artistic director. Her departure and the subsequent appointment of Ken Webster, former artistic director of the Subterranean Theatre Company, as the new artistic director was a major transition in the theater company's history. To mark that transition, our company changed its name simply to Hyde Park Theatre. ________________ Ken Webster in the HPT/Subterranean production of Daniel MacIvor's House. Photo copyright Brett Brookshire, 2001 HOUSE by Daniel MacIvor Directed by Peck Phillips Performed by Ken Webster June 21-30, 2001 A cooperative production between the Subterranean Theatre Company and Frontera@Hyde Park Theatre marked the transition into Ken Webster's new role as producing artistic director of the newly-renamed Hyde Park Theatre. Victor, the loser inhabiting Daniel MacIvor's dark and furiously funny one-man show, takes you on a whirlwind tour of the offices, circus tents, supermarkets, Ramada Inns, sewers, dreams, and houses that compose the hallucinatory landscape of his life.   Art Stripped Naked by Wayne Alan Brenner directed by Ken Webster   Judson L. Jones, Greg Gondek, Jenni Rall, and David Jones in HPT's Art Stripped Naked. Photo copyright Brett Brookshire, 2001. September 6-29, 2001   Eddie is a retired auto mechanic who doesn't always understand his son Art, a struggling young artist, in this quirky and unexpected comedy about the difference between life and art, the brittleness and elasticity of love, and what happens when your girlfriend dumps you for a bass player. Wayne Alan Brenner is an accomplished Austin playwright, actor, artist, and critic. His previous plays include Bloodbrother Weekend, which received a B.Iden Payne Award nomination for Best New Script, and Waiting on Godot. Starring David Jones, Judson L. Jones, Jenni Rall, and Greg Gondek.     ________________ 2000 FronteraFest 2000 Cab and Lena by Daniel Alexander Jones and Grisha Coleman Work in Progress Ordering Seconds by W. David Hancock Work in Progress Curb Appeal by Steven Tomlinson World Premiere B. Iden Payne Award: Best Comedy con flama by Sharon Bridgforth World Premiere ________________ 1999 FronteraFest 99 Alaskan Heat Blue Dot created by Laurie Carlos World Premiere Millennium Bug by Steven Tomlinson World Premiere Polaroid Stories by Naomi Iizuka Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling by Erik Ehn World Premiere ________________ 1998 FronteraFest 98 blood pudding by Sharon Bridgforth World Premiere Watsonville: Some Place Not Here by Cherrie Moraga co-produced with Teatro Humanidad The Race of the Ark Tattoo by W. David Hancock co-premiere with The Foundry Theatre, NYC Critics’ Table Award: Outstanding Production of a Drama House by Daniel MacIvor ________________ 1997 FronteraFest 97 Personal Dances, co-produced with Margery Segal/NERVE dance company Why We Have A Body by Claire Chaffee Deviant Craft by W. David Hancock aria inertia created and performed by Jason Phelps World Premiere clayangels written and performed by Daniel & Todd Jones World Premiere David’s Red Haired Death by Sherry Kramer Managed Care by Steven Tomlinson World Premiere B. Iden Payne Award: Outstanding Comedy ________________ 1996 FronteraFest 1996 Personal Dances, co-produced with Margery Segal/NERVE Dance Company Silence, Cunning, and Exile by Stuart Greenman Critics Table Award: Outstanding Drama The Bacchae: Torn to Pieces Adapted and Directed by: Susan Fenichell, co-produced with Hopeful Monsters Critics Table Award: Outstanding Production of a Drama B. Iden Payne Award: Outstanding Drama Unmerciful Good Fortune by Edwin Sanches Roxanne Popsicle Explosion by Daniel Alexander Jones, Josh Taylor/Jeanne Darst and Kristen Thomas World Premiere dyke/warrior prayers by Sharon Bridgforth co-produced with root wy’mn theatre company World Premiere Enfants Perdus by Erik Ehn ________________ 1995 My Left Breast written and performed by Susan Miller Girl Gone by Jacquelyn Reingold And Baby Makes Seven by Paula Vogel B. Iden Payne Award: Outstanding Comedy Earthbirths, Jazz and Raven's Wings by Daniel Jones World Premiere Black Power Barbie in Hotel de Dream by Shay Youngblood World Premiere no mo blues written by Sharon Bridgforth, co-produced with root wy'mn theatre company ________________ 1994 Weldon Rising by Phyllis Nagy, Critics’ Table Award Outstanding Production of a Drama Talking Bones by Shay Youngblood FronteraFest 94 The Water Principle by Eliza Anderson, Critics’ Table Award: Outstanding Production of a Drama ________________ 1993 Vivisections from the Blown Mind by Alonzo D. Lamont, Jr. The Swan by Elizabeth Egloff FronteraFest 93 Halcyon Days by Steven Dietz ________________ 1992 Life During Wartime by Keith Reddin Mi Vida Loca by Eric Overmyer The House of Yes by Wendy MacLeod, B. Iden Payne Award: Outstanding Comedy Contact Us