CounterCurrent 2017

Houston's most extreme arts festival offers strange and extraordinary performances

Film and television star Lili Taylor performs artist Suzanne Bocanegra’s memoir-lecture about farm life across the road from Texas’s most famous brothel. An acclaimed Norwegian choreographer brings a Japanese flamenco master and an Argentinian kabuki expert together in dance. And Donald Barthelme’s post-modern fairytale masterpiece, Snow White, finally makes it to the stage after almost 50 years.

These performances are just some of the strange and extraordinary events we can expect from CounterCurrent, Houston’s most extreme cross-discipline arts festival. Oh yeah, and all the tickets are free.

For its fourth year, the CounterCurrent Festival, presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, brings to town national and internationally renowned artists, but, as always, the five-day festival running from April 18-23 remains thoroughly grounded in Houston.

“We took a look at Houston’s populations and the issues of the day, political and sociological, and we responded to them,” explains Karen Farber, the Mitchell Center’s executive director, about the programming for CounterCurrent 2017. “One of our commitments is to take a look at the power the arts can have in our communities and societies.”

But CounterCurrent has always been true to its title, presenting art and projects that do not run easy with the current, but instead provoke and perhaps even challenge people’s perceptions.

“Not everyone in Houston agrees on everything,” Farber describes as a positive. “We’d like to place our artists in an environment when they can really craft their opinions, in a situation where there’s some real tension, and they’re actually dealing with the reality of our population.”

If you’re ready to meet that art challenge, CounterCurrent delivers a plethora of performances, projects and events to explore, so check out the schedule and reserve those free tickets early. But for a Festival introductory guide, here’s some currents you’ll want to sweep you away.

Returning Favorites

Farmhouse/Whorehouse
Farber admits she’s a little “obsessed” with Suzanne Bocanegra’s work, which has been featured every year in the festival, and calls the artist with deep Texas and Houston roots an “anti-performance-artist” who makes performance pieces. Lili Taylor will perform Bocanegra's art-lecture about life on her grandparents’ La Grange farm across the road from that best little whorehouse in Texas, the Chicken Ranch.

When: Friday (April 21) at 7 pm, Saturday (April 22) at 3 pm and 7 pm.
Where: MATCH - Box 1, 3400 Main Street.

Ten Tiny Dances
Though the dances and dancers change every year, the format and philosophy that “constraint begets creativity” produces some astonishing kinetic dance pieces every year. This 2017 edition is co-curated by one of Houston’s foremost dance experts Nancy Wozny.

When: Wednesday (April 19) at 8 pm. Reception sponsored by Saint Arnold Brewing Company at 7 pm.
Where: Post HTX, 401 Franklin Street.

Art Interactive

Ghana ThinkTank
Last year the activism artist collective asked Houstonians from all communities “What’s your Houston diversity problem?” then took the responses to think tanks around the world for solutions. This year the artists are back and have created a piece of structural art that is also an active, mobile mosque. Festival-goers and the general public will be invited to participate in activities in conjunction with Ghana ThinkTank’s ongoing work.

When and Where: Various times and locations, Tuesday (April 18) through Sunday (April 23).

Movement V: Ballroom
Artist Kevin Beasley creates a site-specific sculptural and sound installation at the Houston cultural landmark, The Historic Eldorado Ballroom, and lets audiences connect with local musical history through art.

“Kevin Beasley’s installation is interactive in a way that’s not immediately evident,” describes Farber. “Nothing will happen in the space unless there are people in it. Sound is triggered by bodies hitting the space. It’s very intentional on his part because he’s looking at the absent of people from that space and from that neighborhood and the history of that neighbor and how bodies can sort of echo in a historic space.”

When: Installation Tuesday (April 18) through Sunday (April 23) noon- 8 pm. Opening Reception Thursday (April 20) 7 pm - 9 pm. Performance Saturday (April 22) at 8 pm.
Where: The Historic Eldorado Ballroom, 2310 Elgin Street.

A Lost Masterpiece Found

Catastrophic Theatre’s staging of Snow White, the first novel by one of Houston’s greatest literary sons, Donald Barthelme, is garnering national attention. The story of how the almost-forgotten play manuscript finally came to be produced is a bit of a "strange only-in-Houston" fairytale itself, but the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center’s investment in the production’s development made certain Snow White would have her day. Farber had been looking to collaborate with Catastrophic for some time but Snow White became the perfect partnership.

“When Snow White came about it was so much more ideal than anything else we’d ever talked about because of obviously the Barthelme connection to the UH Creative Writing Program, and because of the possibility of interaction with the School of Theater and Dance, which ultimately became a fruitful thing, so that there are many UH participants in the piece.”

See this production now because early reviews and the national attention could signal a happy fairy tale future for the absurdist comedy.

When: Thursdays through Saturdays through May 6. All tickets are gone for the CounterCurrent performances April 20 through April 22, although a small number of walk up tickets are held for most CounterCurrent performances, with tickets first-come, first-served at the venue 30 minutes before each performance. Suggested donation of $35 for performances from April 27-May 6.
Where: MATCH - BOX 3, 3400 Main Street.

Art Party

Come to the April 18 Festival opening night for Simulacrum, the culture clashing and collaborating dance performance, but stay for the party at the MATCH, beginning at 6 pm. While much of the work throughout the week will be thought-provokingly provocative, that’s all the more reason to party down with free drinks, free performances and a Houston-style celebration of the arts.

Tickets for CounterCurrent events are free but should be reserved in advance.

The world premiere staging of Donald Barthelme's Snow White is already making national art headlines.

Photo by Anthony Rathbun

The world premiere staging of Donald Barthelme's Snow White is already making national art headlines.

festivals music theater dance

fall theater preview

Sneak peek at the 2026 fall performance slates for 15 Houston companies

Theatre Under the Stars presents The Music Man

Photo courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars

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For theater and performing arts lovers, late summer is the most wonderful time of the year, as stage companies across the city begin their new 2026-2027 seasons. But before the curtains rise, most of those companies also give us the gift of Houston Theater Week and all those buy-one-get-one-free discounts.

To get ready, CultureMap has put together this fall theater guide with the opening shows and dates for each company, as well as taking an early look at what the rest of the fall and holidays will bring. So grab those discounted tickets for a fall filled with blockbuster musicals, dramas, comedies, as well as lots of classics and audience favorites.

A.D. Players opens with Holly Street (August 19)
The spiritual and family friendly theater company began its season a bit early with a poignant world premiere set in small town Kentucky in the 1940s after World War II. Holly Street tells the story of two sisters at Christmas time and two unexpected guests.

The company takes a break for a month and then offers one of the funniest, yet heartwarming holiday plays for all ages withThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the beloved comedy about a children’s play that goes wrong.

Houston Ballet opens with Pecos Bill (September 11)
HB says howdy to a great fall season with a mixed rep program that holds something for all dance tastes. The performance includes Stanton Welch’s rollicking ballet version of cowboy folklore, Pecos Bill’s adventures. Performances also feature George Balanchine’s elegant and dynamic Symphonie Concertante, and an HB debut, Meadow, a work by celebrated choreographer Lar Lubovitch.

For the first full story ballet of the fall (September 24), HB brings the opulence of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s now classic and tragic Mamon, the doomed love story between an irresistibly beautiful femme fatale and impoverished student. Of course, in November, it wouldn’t be the holidays without Stanton Welch’s version of The Nutcracker Ballet that brings the story’s focus back to the adventurous Clara.

4th Wall Theatre opens with Proof (September 11)
The first of several Pulitzer Prize-winning plays produced this season comes from this intimate stage. Playwright David Auburn’s Proof is the story of the daughter of a genius mathematician who might have inherited both his aptitude for math and his mental instability. The play travels back and forth through the present and past to study the formulas of family, loss, and love

Over the years, 4th Wall has produced several wild and moving adaptations of Jane Austen novels. This year, it will present Are the Bennet Girls Ok? This new version of the Pride and Prejudice story, that had a recent Off-Broadway debut to much critical praise, tells the Bennet girls’ marriage quests from their mother’s point of view.

Main Street Theater opens with Cold War Choir Practice (September 12)
Also earning lots of recent off-Broadway buzz, this genre-defying comedy with music is one of the most intriguing picks for the fall. In Reagan’s America, a young girl is embroiled in intrigue when her estranged uncle, a prominent Black conservative, brings his mysteriously ill, white wife home for the holidays and forces long-simmering tensions within the family to boil.

From Victorian England to a fast food joint, theaters across the world and certainly in Houston have put Dickens’s Christmas Carol into a multitude of settings. For the holidays, MST invites Houstonians to a Dublin pub for An Irish Carol, where rich owner David has lost touch with his own humanity in the interest of self-protection and material success. Now on Christmas Eve, a voice from the past will ask David to look at his relationships in the past, present, and possible future to perhaps change his life for the better.

Theatre Under the Stars opens presenting The Music Man (September 15)
TUTS changes its usual mix of more self-produced shows than touring shows, leaning in on presenting this season. The season begins with this classic musical comedy about a charming con man who gets conned himself by small town sincerity and love.

The touring hits continue in October with Mrs. Doubtfire, the musical based on the Robin Williams comedy about a divorced man who disguises himself as a British nanny to take care of his kids. Then for the holidays, TUTS brings back its own leviathan-sized production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid for under the sea family fun with a cast filled with Houston singing sensations, including students from the TUTS schools.

Rec Room opens with Amadeus (September 17)
The east-ish downtown theater company decided to take some time off after last year's productions of Angels in American to switch from a calendar year season to the traditional fall/spring season that most Houston companies use. Now they’re back and celebrating their 10 year anniversary with plays Houstonians haven’t seen in quite a while, or ever, on a local professional stage. The season begins with the now classic 20th century play about the (mostly one-sided) rivalry between composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and its exploration of jealousy and the nature of genius.

For the ultimate holiday show counter programming, Rec Room will produce a new adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo’s The Accidental Death of an Anarchist. It’s Christmas time at the police station, as Rec Room reimagines Fo’s groundbreaking political farce of the 1970s as a contemporary American satire infused with detective noir, Cold War paranoia, and sharp absurdity.

Ensemble Theatre opens with Purpose (September 18)
Ensemble celebrates its 50th season with this recent Best Play Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins about a prominent and political Black family, the Jenkins. While the patriarch was a leader in the Civil Rights movement, the adult sons are having trouble living up to their father’s legacy. Generational aspirations come to a comic clash for one particularly awkward but purposeful family dinner.

For the holidays, the company brings back an audience favorite, the joyful and soulful A Motown Christmas, which melds Motown hits and choreography with traditional holiday classics.

Stages opens with Come From Away (September 19)
Based on the true story, this poignant and hopeful musical tells the story of a small town in Newfoundland that rallied together to host thousands of stranded international travelers after planes were grounded September 11, 2001. It’s been a few years since Come From Away toured nationally, so Houstonians are definitely looking forward to seeing Stages begin its season with an intimate and homegrown production.

In October, Stages jumps from a musical with a large cast of characters to The Roommate, the Jen Silverman comedy about two 50-something women with very different personalities and life experiences who begin living together. For the holidays, it brings back another audience favorite with all the music, fun, and wild plots found in The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical.

Alley Theatre opens fall with Romeo and Juliet (September 25)
While technically the thrilling Girl on the Train began its 26-27 season, the Alley heats up the fall with the play that originated the term star-crossed lovers and is arguably the greatest romantic tragedy in literature. The entire resident acting company will take the stage in Shakespeare’s wrenching tale of young lovers crushed between their warring families.

In October, the Alley leaps from a classic of world literature to a world premiere satire with Uhuru. This play explores very contemporary themes of access and identity as it follows a group of climbers up Mount Kilimanjaro. Uhuru was developed as part of the Alley All New play reading season. For the holidays, look for both Alley artistic director, Rob Melrose’s, lovely adaptation of A Christmas Carol as well as its very contemporary Texas version of The Night Shift Before Christmas.

Broadway at the Hobby Center opens with The Sound of Music (September 29)
Musical lovers might want to see if the Hobby Center will rent a room this fall, because the TUTS and Broadway combined schedules will fill Sarofim Hall with the sound of music almost every week, including the actual Sound of Music. One of the most beloved musicals of all time, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s story of the von Trapp family and the woman who brought music into their lives tours the country again with new direction from three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray).

Then, just in time for spooky season, the ghost-est with the mostest, the irrepressible Beetlejuice, returns to haunt Houston after being a surprising comic hit a few seasons ago. Then, the Tony Award-winning Buena Vista Social Club arrives. Depicting the backstage story of the Grammy-winning album of the same name, the show transports audiences into the heart of Cuba, beyond the glitz of the Tropicana into the soul of the music.

Houston Grand Opera opens with Susannah (October 23)
Continuing its centenary celebration for the great American composer Carlisle Floyd, HGO opens its season with this tragic beauty of an opera inspired by Floyd’s childhood as a minister’s son. With a score infused with revival hymns and Appalachian folksong, the opera depicts life in a small Tennessee town and the gossip, judgement, and hypocrisy that leads to the ruin of one innocent woman.

HGO elevates spooky season with upGounod’s masterpiece Faust in late October. This production from acclaimed Scottish director David McVicar reimagines Faust as a tormented composer in Belle Époque Paris, before making a deal with the devil for youth and earthly pleasures.

Other fall debuts

While it might only be producing one show this fall, Houstonians still have these plays from some of the city's mid-sized and smaller companies on their must-see lists. In early September, Mildred’s Umbrella gets mad with Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties, a sharp comedy with its synopsis in the title as it depicts the lives of five very different women all named Betty. The recently announced Catastrophic Theatre season scheduled the majority of its shows in 2027, but in September the company will revive Eugene Ionesco’s epic absurdest play, Rhinoceros, about a small town whose citizens begin to transform into a herd of giant horned mammals.

In mid-October, Dirt Dogs presents one of those great dinner parties from hell plays with Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Dinner with Friends about one couple’s divorce that leads their best friends to question their own marriages. Also in October, Classical Theatre opens its season with one of George Bernard Shaw’s wittiest works from his “Plays Pleasant” collection, Arms and the Man, about a young woman who has romanticized war until she decides to shelter a war-weary enemy soldier.

Photo courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars

Theatre Under the Stars presents The Music Man