Theater Critic Picks

These are the 14 must-see shows in Dallas-Fort Worth theater for September

Experience "Big Love" at Hip Pocket Theatre.

Photo courtesy of Hip Pocket Theatre

The headline says 14 shows, but there are really so many more. That's because it's festival time in DFW, and we don't just mean Oktoberfest and the like. Festivals are happening onstage too this month, covering new work, international offerings, and so much more. Plus, the State Fair show is back!

In order of start date, here are 14 local shows to watch this month:

The Importance of Being Earnest
Stage West, September 5-22
So, there are these two rich and eligible English bachelors. Both are pretending to be a man named Ernest, because they are trying to woo these two ladies who have decided they are all about that name. But when their romantic schemes collide, the whole charade unravels in a whirlwind of wacky surprises and dazzling wit from Oscar Wilde.

Athena
Undermain Theatre, September 5-29
Mary Wallace and Athena are brave, seventeen, and fencers training for the Junior Olympics. They practice together, they compete against each other, they spend their lives together. They wish they were friends.

Fort Worth International Fringe Festival
Theatre Network of Texas, Inc. and Arts Fort Worth, September 6-8
Sample a variety of acts ranging from rarely produced theater to dance, storytelling, poetry, and more. Fifteen different programs will be performed multiple times over three days. For a full schedule of events, go to the festival website.

Big Love
Hip Pocket Theatre, September 6-29
Based on the Greek play The Suppliants by Aeschylus, Big Love is a perfect match for Hip Pocket: lyrical, sexy, beautiful, bloody, hilarious, and untamed. Written by Charles Mee and directed by Emily Scott Banks, it follows multiple brides who flee to a manor in Italy to avoid marrying their cousins and instead find sisterhood, independence, true love — and murder.

Million Dollar Quartet
Casa Mañana, September 7-15
This is the true story of the famed recording session that brought together Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. Travel back to 1956 and the early days of rock ‘n’ roll with smash-hit songs including "Hound Dog," "Great Balls of Fire," "Blue Suede Shoes," "I Walk the Line," and more.

SheDFW Theater Festival
SheDFW Arts, September 10-15
This inaugural festival spotlights three new full-length plays and one original musical, all written by women, trans, and non-binary writers. The titles areFor Bo by Ayvaunn Penn, The Martyr by Leo Rodriguez, Under the Jello Mold by Jennie Fahn, and Olivia O, The Musical with book and lyrics by Jessica Carmona and Diane Currie Sam, and music and lyrics by Gil Yaron and Angela Ortiz.

Julius Caesar
Shakespeare Dallas, September 11-October 13
Pack a picnic and sit out under the stars while you watch Shakespeare's nail-biter of a political play. Concerned that Julius Caesar poses a threat to democracy, revolutionaries take the violent decision to murder him. As the world spins out of control, chaos and superstition lead to civil war.

Jet Fuel
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, September 12-22
Amy Evans' groundbreaking new play embarks on an unforgettable journey through the world of elite sports. Inspired by the extraordinary tale of Olympic sprinter Caster Semenya, the production casts a spotlight on the intricate intersections of gender, race identity, and the quest for fairness in the realm of athletics.

The Secret Keepers
Echo Theatre, September 12-28
Erin Malone Turner's Southern gothic, coming-of-age play centers on a group of high-school seniors during their last semester at a run-down boarding school. Nightmares plague the unspoken leader of the group, shadowy figures come and go, skeletons tumble out of their closets, and one of the teens goes missing.

Company
Broadway at the Center, September 25-29
It’s Bobbie’s 35th birthday party, and all her friends keep asking, “Why isn’t she married? Why can’t she find the right man, and isn’t it time to settle down and start a family?” As Bobbie searches for answers in this Stephen Sondheim and George Furth musical, she discovers why being single, being married, and being alive in the 21st-century could drive a person crazy.

Cirque du Soleil: Songblazers
Music Hall at Fair Park, September 25-October 20
The State Fair show is back. This new theatrical experience pays tribute to the legendary and modern trailblazers of country music, charting the journey of two main characters as they forge their own path to country recognition. Per usual with Cirque du Soleil shows, audiences will also witness acrobatics, aerial acts, and displays of strength.

Latinidades Festival & Symposium
Cara Mía Theatre, September 26-October 13
Now in its fifth year, Dallas’ largest international Latino theater festival is expanding from three productions to 11, including live theater, dance, music and poetry to celebrate diverse Latin American voices. Productions hail from Dallas, San Francisco, Miami, Barcelona, Mexico City, Bogotá, and San Juan.

See Me
OutLoud Dallas, September 27-October 5
The world premiere of this immersive theatrical experience was inspired by the stories of young people from across North Texas, and is bringing their voices to life using cutting-edge technology, projections, and holograms. Exploring how existing in a hyper-connected world impacts the human condition, this show at the Eisemann Center offers a poignant dialogue between technology and the arts.

Grace For President
Dallas Children's Theater, September 28-October 20
Adapted from Kelly DiPucchio's book, this family-friendly musical centers on Grace Campbell, who discovers one day in class that there has never been a female president. "Where are the girls?" she asks, as her teacher rolls out a poster of all U.S. presidents. Frustrated by the lack of female faces in the White House, Grace decides she wants to be president and inspires a school election.

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Ancient Sculpture News

Fort Worth museum one of only 3 in U.S. to get rare sculpture exhibit

Lorenzo di Masi/Torlonia Collection

The Torlonia Nile

A major exhibition of ancient Roman masterworks is coming to the U.S. for the first time to be viewed at only three museums — including the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

Called Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection, it's an assemblage of works stewarded by the Torlonia Family beginning in the early-19th century, and will be installed at the Kimbell from September 14, 2025 – January 25, 2026.

As part of the Foundation’s mission to showcase these historical works to the public, the exhibition will premiere at the Art Institute of Chicago on March 15 through June 29, before traveling to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Its third stop will be at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, from March 14 - July 19, 2026.

The Torlonia Collection was established during the course of the 19th century by the Franco-Italian banker Prince Giovanni Torlonia and his son Alessandro, then handed down over generations, eventually growing into the largest private collection of ancient Roman sculptures.

Today, the Torlonia Foundation represents the culmination of the Family’s continued passion for art. Created at the behest of Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1925–2017), the Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promote the Torlonia Collection and Villa Albani Torlonia.

In 1876, Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1800-1886) created a museum to house and exhibit the Family’s holdings, which was open to small groups until its closure at the onset of World War II. The sculptures remained unseen by the public from that time until the Foundation’s first exhibition at the Musei Capitolini in Rome in 2020. That was followed by a stint at the Louvre, the first presentation of the collection outside of Rome, where it has drawn more than 600,000 visitors to date, an unprecedented feat.

The exhibit
The curators of Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection are Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff of the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and The Museum Box. All of the sculptures in the exhibition have been restored by the Foundation with the support of Bvlgari.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue co-published by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Torlonia Foundation, edited by Lisa Ayla Çakmak and Katharine A. Raff, with essays by Silvia Beltrametti and Salvatore Settis.

The North American presentation will feature 58 highlights from the Torlonia Collection, including 24 newly restored works that have not been on view in nearly a century. The sculptures date from approximately the 5th century BCE to the early 4th century CE, with the majority of the works dating to the High Imperial period (1st–2nd centuries CE). Highlights include examples of the most emblematic genres of ancient marble sculpture, acquired by the Torlonia Family from the most prominent collections of Rome’s patrician families, as well as from excavations made on the Family’s own estates throughout Italy.

“The Foundation is excited to be sharing the Torlonia Collection with audiences in North America for the first time. This exceptional group of ancient sculptures is a testament to the enduring cultural legacy of ancient Rome, as well as the vision and passion of multiple generations of the Torlonia Family,” said Alessandro Poma Murialdo, President of the Torlonia Foundation.

The presentation is organized thematically in six sections, featuring sculptures found on the Torlonia Family’s properties in Rome and the surrounding suburbs and their estate in Porto, Portugal, as well as a number of exceptional sarcophagi (stone coffins), among the largest sculpted works in marble to survive from ancient Rome.

The tour reinforces the work of the Foundation to advance the appreciation and understanding of this unparalleled collection and the rich cultural heritage it represents. The Foundation’s mission is carried out through a continuous joint effort between the public and private sectors, including with the cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Culture. The Foundation is supported by a longstanding collaboration with Bvlgari as the principal sponsor of the restoration project since its inception in Rome and throughout the global tour, and Chiomenti, who has lent invaluable support to the Foundation’s core activities.

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