BY JUSTIN LOCKLEAR, MELISSA FLOWER, PHILIP HAYS

Directed by Associate Artistic Director Danielle Georgiou

A couple is battling the gaps appearing in their memories, their domestic environment, and their relationship. They find their reality to be less tangible than they thought, slowly losing grasp on their own physical presence and emotional agency. The pain of their strained affection is elevated by the slow and steady disappearance of household items. The culprit? A hermit, who may or may not exist. We watch the couple disappear into their own environment, being replaced by the things that filled the empty space in their lives. Through fascinating visual storytelling and surreal stagecraft, THINGS MISSING/MISSED reveals how quickly missing/forgetting/evading becomes our human response to the emptiness in our lives.

Running time - 60 minutes

Production Manager - Gabriela Leodiou
Lighting and Scenic Designer, Technical Director - Lori Honeycutt
Scenic & Lighting Assistant - Niels Winter
Edited by Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear
Undermain Theatre Production Manager - Ken Bernstein

What a year this has been. For many, it has been the first time to watch the whole of their collective efforts and momentum become redundant. We suffer small defeats in many ways throughout our lives, weighing the impact against the scales of our experience. During 2020, the scale was no longer valid, and as real-life calls our attention to its unrelenting ego, here we are, peeling back the layers of impact that this year has wrought. When considering how to approach digital programming for this season, Bruce and I were excited to step into the space between the performance and our audience and reawaken the magic space in the Undermain basement. Personally, I took a careful look at how this year away from the live stage has affected my work and mindset, and I realized that there was a beautiful poem of a show waiting to be introduced to you. THINGS MISSING/MISSED is a gorgeous mystery for the audience, and it speaks so well to this year that, at times, I forget it was written four years ago.

The life of this story started in 2016, in a collaboration between three playwrights: Melissa Flower, a deft scholar, creator, and movement specialist; Philip Hays, a lauded playwright, performer, and director; and Justin Locklear, a jack-of-all-trades, and my creative partner. They carefully built a foundation from T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the real-life tale of The North Pond Hermit, and autobiographical material. The resulting structure: a beautiful collage of hopeful romance, dreamy sadness, and the void of time. The show is a powerful look into those spots of our lives which wear thin—almost transparent—and we begin to lose a sense of what we have lost and what instead, we have purposefully erased.

After the Houston premiere, we began looking for opportunities to prepare a second chapter. In 2017, DGDG presented a production of THINGS MISSING/MISSED as part of our residency with the Dallas Public Library—which was fantastic in its own right. Yet, I knew I wanted an opportunity to explore the show in a far more intimate way. Kat and Bruce attended that show, and their response has stayed with me as we prepare to launch this new iteration of the show. Through the abundance of caution and care which UMT has given all of our decisions this year, we made the best plan, and I am so impressed by what we have created. We truly have an amazing space, a fantastic team, and, as you will soon be reminded, some of the best artists in the country.

Take a step into the woolen blanket of a winter dream and peer into the intimate space we have all missed. The breath-close conversations we have captured will remind you of not only the special nights you have spent in the basement but the pure nostalgia of living with the pain of love.  
~ Danielle Georgiou

The Danielle Georgiou Dance Group (DGDG) is a dance theatre company that works within the ideas of contemporary dance and physical theatre. Each production is created using an ensemble-based method to devise concepts and choreographic ideas under the direction of Artistic Director/Choreographer Danielle Georgiou. DGDG is dedicated to crafting and curating creative dance and theatre works that explore human and social conditions. The artists of DGDG are committed to challenging inherited and accepted notions of identity and history, in the interest of disrupting and dismantling patterns of oppression. It is our hope that audiences appreciate and delight in our work and leave engaged in a conversation with themselves, with others, and with the performers. Our goal is to explore the depths of our humanity while reflecting on the many ways in which we connect, interact, and react with one another.

The Danielle Georgiou Dance Group was selected as Best Dance Troupe by the Dallas Observer for 2020. DGDG also was named Best Dance Troupe in 2017 and 2015, and Best Dance Company for 2016 by the readers of D Magazine. The Show About Men (2015) was named Best New Play or Musical by the Dallas Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum Awards. NICE (2014), which premiered at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre for the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project, also won for Choreography.

Donor Roll of Honor Leadership Circle Donors

December 1, 2019 – December 31, 2020

Undermain Theatre and its Board of Trustees recognize the contributions of our Leadership Circle Donors who give generously to support the work of the theatre. Thank you for helping us bring exciting and innovative new work and classic productions to our Dallas community virtually during this time

Donor Roll of Honor

December 1, 2019 - December 31, 2020

Corporations, Foundations, Organizations, and Government Agencies

December 1, 2019 - December 31, 2020

CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS

Undermain Theatre welcomes the support of companies which enables us to present the highest quality theatre at a price affordable to all. Benefits for your company include Internal Recognition, External Promotions, and Hospitality Benefits for you to use to entertain clients or employees. Our Development Team wants to work with you on a customized package that benefits your company, its employees, and the Undermain. Please contact us by email at development@undermain.org for more information.

The Katherine Owens - Undermain Fund for New Work

The Katherine Owens – Undermain Fund for New Work, managed by Undermain Theatre, provides long-term support to the generation and development of new work in Dallas. This fund was established by gifts made in remembrance of our beloved Founding Artistic Director Katherine Owens and seeks to continue Undermain’s ongoing commitment to new work—a pillar of our 37 years. We thank the following early supporters of the Katherine Owens – Undermain Fund for New Work:

To learn more about the Katherine Owens - Undermain Fund For New Work, please click here.

To make a gift to the Katherine Owens – Undermain Fund for New Work in memory of Katherine, please make your check out to Undermain Theatre with the memo "Katherine Owens Fund" and mail your donation to: Undermain Theatre ATTN: Katherine Owens – Undermain Fund for New Work, PO Box 140193, Dallas, TX 75214. You may also donate online.  Please reference “Fund for New Work” as the Dedication Honoree Name. If you have any questions, please contact our Development Director -  blaircrane@undermain.org.

Board of Trustees 2020-2021

phone: 214-747-1424 or 214-747-5515

email: mail@undermain.org

mail: PO Box 140193, Dallas TX 75214

The Undermain Theatre offices are closed at this time. For assistance with ticketing or accessing your virtual streaming performances, please email the Box Office at boxoffice@undermain.org. The Box Office email is monitored from 5:00 pm CST to 8:00 pm CST on virtual performance evenings.