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UPDATE: Review by Ryan E. Johnson at austinist.com, September 2
UPDATE: Review by Barry Pineo for Austin Chronicle, September 2
UPDATE: Review by Georgia Young at austinist.com, August 27
UPDATE: Review by Kate Blouke for the Statesman's Austin360 "Seeing Things" blog, August 23
UPDATE:Comments at "Rebablog," August 22
UPDATE: Playwright William Missouri Downs will attend September 10 performance and talk-back
UPDATE: NowPlayingAustin.com interviews Derek Kolluri about Dead White Males on its new venture "The New and the Weird," August 16 (11 min.)
Received directly:
Get Back to School with Sustainable Theatre Project’s Next Production
Dead White Males: A Year in the Trenches of Teaching
by William Missouri Downs
Directed by Derek Kolluri
Hideout Theatre, 617 South Congress Avenue
August 19th through September 11th, Thursday through Saturday, 8 PM. There are no performances Labor Day Weekend. OnThursday, August 26th the show will be presented with audio description for the visually impaired. Sunday August 29th is a one-time Sunday matinee at 5:00 PM.
 After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light. The vote was 10 to 5 along party lines, with all the Republicans on the board voting for it.
- NY Times, March 12, 2010:
Dead White Males is the first show to hit Austin stages that tackles the widely controversial decisions passed by the Texas Board of Education. How do the politics of education interfere with our teachers' ability to connect with children? And how do we define a good education when no one can agree on what should be taught? Further - what does it mean to be a great teacher? Who is responsible for teaching our children better ways of living, or giving compassion or discipline when needed? In other words: If it takes a village...?
> A darkly humorous verbal masterpiece, compassionate and sympathetic, yet unrelenting in its critique of the educational system and American life, “Dead White Males” is a hot-button hit that will seem like satire to the uninitiated and documentary to those who've spent any time in the "trenches," just in time for the beginning of a new school year.
“Three of the actors and I have been teachers in different capacities. Also, the play is set in Kansas, which was once home to every member of STP - four of whom spent the better part of their early education in the Kansas public school systems, so we don’t have to look far for personal relevance.” said Derek Kolluri, the shows director and the Producing Artistic director of STP.
And some may note that Kansas has been through its share of education controversies over the last decade. On August 11, 1999, by a 6–4 vote the Kansas State Board of Education changed their science education standards to remove any mention of "biological macroevolution, the age of the Earth, or the origin and early development of the Universe…”
“It was rescinded within the next two years, but not before Kansas was tossed around the national stage and almost every company that could put up a production of “Inherit the wind, “said Kolluri. “And, of course, there was Brown versus the Board of Education.”
 The company of Dead White Males isn’t just steeped in educational experience. There are some 20 Austin based nominations and awards among the production team. STP is honored to welcome Dennis Bailey to Austin stages. Bailey is sure to make a mark with audiences, given his pedigree as an actor on the Broadway stage and in television. “I'm glad to be a make my first showing on Austin stages with STP. This is a great show.”
Dead White Males digs to the heart of the issues in education, while keeping a sharp sense of humor and compassion. “At the end of the day, school should be about empowering our children - not subjecting them to the same, decades-old battle over what theory is right. But, DEAD WHITE MALES is so poignant because, like all great plays, it focuses on how we deal with these issues as human beings.” said Kolluri. “I know this play has an audience in Austin, Texas - which is exactly why we're doing it.”
Directed by Derek Kolluri
Cast: Molly Fonseca, Suzanne Balling, Beth Burroughs, Robert Deike, Katie Brock, Dennis Bailey and Ryan Hamilton
Production Team: Derek Kolluri, Adam Hilton, Jamie Urban, Adriane Deveney, Ia Enstera, Christal Boyd, Larry Mitchell and Elizabeth Elliot
“Dead White Males: A Year in the Trenches of Teaching” runs August 19th through September 11th, Thursday through Saturday, 8PM. There are no performances Labor Day Weekend. STP is offering two special performance dates. On Thursday August 26th the show will be presented with audio description for the visually impaired. Sunday August 29th is a one-time Sunday matinee at 5:00 PM. “Dead White Males” will be performed at The Hideout Theatre 617 Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78701, just a few blocks from the Texas State Capital Building. Tickets are $10 - $20 and can be reserved by contacting Sustainable Theatre Project at sustaianble.theatre.
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, or by calling 512.964.5685, and will be available for “walk-up” purchase at 7PM each performance night.
For more information, visit sustainabletheatreproject.org.
•••••••••
Founded in 2009, Sustainable Theatre Project’s mission is to create entertaining, affordable and socially relevant theatre for the city of Austin, while maintaining the highest possible standards of sustainability as budget and all practical means allow. STP seeks to produce a wide diversity of theatrical genres steeped in fine-tuned dedication to quality and excellence. STP’s foundational belief is that environmentally sustainable practice creates potential for an extreme efficiency that in turn leads to organizational sustainability, offering greater pay to artists, increased production quality and lower ticket prices. STP seeks to address the wasteful habits of the theatre and works toward opening a new “zero waste” theatre venue for all the established and emerging theatre companies in Austin and their audiences to call home.
For more information, visit sustainabletheatreproject.org.
STP is a sponsored project of the Greater Austin Creative Alliance.
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