A five-time Tony Award recipient who grew up in Texas, playwright Terrence McNally (1938–2020) was a defining force in American theatre for six decades through plays such as Master Class, Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune, and Love! Valour! Compassion! As a continuation of McNally’s legacy of championing bold new voices, the Terrence McNally Foundation in association with Rattlestick Theater presents a festival of five new play readings directed and performed by leading talent from Austin and around the country. The weekend will include an academic symposium at UT’s Harry Ransom Center, where the legacy of "the bard of American theater” lives on through his archived papers.
Festival Details
Admission to the symposium and all play readings are free and open to the public with reservations. Attendees will be able to reserve single tickets starting January 4.
For those who want to experience the full weekend and connect with participating artists, festival passes will be available beginning Tuesday, October 20 at 10 a.m. with pre-sale access for members of the McNally Foundation, the Harry Ransom Center, and TPA’s Texas Inner Circle, followed by public on-sale Friday, October 23 at 10 a.m. Passes are $135, or $180 with parking included, and will be available at texasperformingarts.org. Please visit terrencemcnallyfestival.com for full symposium details.
Each festival pass includes:
Festival Schedule:
Friday, January 29, 2027
Play Reading #1: Girl Time
By Eliza Frakes
McCullough Theatre, 3 p.m.
Jocelyn has had a really bad night. She needs a little Girl Time. Luckily, she has a thousand dollars to burn and a babysitter with a drinking problem. Total win-win! This real-time play devolves from comedy to horror to drama, using genre shifts to explore class, femininity, and privilege along the way. Eliza is an MFA candidate at UT Austin through the Michener Center for Writers.
Approximate run time: 80 minutes
Age recommendation: Mature audiences 17 and older
Content Advisory: Contains strong language and sexual references
Play Reading #2: The Seahorse
By Kate Fodor
Directed by Will Davis
McCullough Theatre, 7 p.m.
Andrew is the new Seahorse mascot for the Tidal Wave football team, and he loves his job. His wife, Charlie, is less enthusiastic about being married to a seahorse. Meanwhile, Lila is unsure about her new role as the library’s bookworm mascot—but sometimes it’s nice to hide inside a costume. In Kate Fodor’s The Seahorse, mascotery gets messy as identities are assumed, roles are played and truths are revealed. Fodor was named one of “Eight to Watch” in the theater world by The New York Times and has written for four seasons of Amazon’s Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Rattlestick Theater Artistic Director Will Davis returns to his alma mater to direct.
Approximate run time: 90 minutes
Age recommendation: Mature audiences 17 and older
Content Advisory: Contains strong language, sexual content, and references to sexual violence
Saturday, January 30, 2027
Terrence McNally Symposium at the Harry Ransom Center
Individual presentations: 9 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Lunch break: 12:15 – 1:15 p.m.
Symposium roundtable panel: 1:30 – 2:15 p.m.
Please visit terrencemcnallyfestival.com for full symposium details.
Play Reading #3: Gulliver’s Travels
Adapted and directed by Zack Fine and Bradley Michalakis
McCullough Theatre, 3 p.m.
Jonathan Swift’s beloved satire of human nature, politics and society may be long, old and seemingly irrelevant—but it has never been successfully adapted for the stage. Until now. This bold new adaptation brings Swift’s classic work to life with a fresh theatrical perspective from UT School of Theater & Dance faculty member Zack Fine. Developed in residence at Texas Performing Arts in collaboration with Houston’s Alley Theatre and with support from the UT College of Fine Arts Visiting Artist Endowment.
Approximate run time: 2.5 hours with intermission
Age recommendation: 12 and older
Content Advisory: Contains strong language and sexual innuendo
Performance of Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi
Presented by Rude Mechs
Crash Box Theatre, 8 p.m.
McNally’s Corpus Christi begins with a simple declaration: “We are going to tell you an old and familiar story.” First staged in 1998, the play reimagines the New Testament through Joshua, a Christ figure born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, in the early 1950s. Set apart because he is gay, Joshua leaves Corpus in search of acceptance and eventually finds a group of disciples drawn to his message of love, tolerance and compassion. Now, the Rude Mechs put their own theatrical take on McNally’s daring work—the only play he ever set in his home state of Texas.
Approximate run time: 2 hours
Location: Crash Box Theatre is located at 5305 Bolm Rd Unit 12, Austin, TX 78721
The presentation of Corpus Christi is not affiliated with Texas Performing Arts or the Harry Ransom Center.
Sunday, January 31
Play Reading #4: You Can Tell a Tree by its Fruit
By comfort ifeoma katchy
McCullough Theatre, 10:30 a.m.
In Reconstruction-era Texas, Black shoemaker Louis Carter Sr. returns home to his family after an unjust imprisonment, determined to rebuild his business. Knowing how to navigate a system designed to keep him out, Louis invites his Irish immigrant cellmate and his family to move into his home and become the public face of Carter’s Shoe Emporium. Written by Houston native and recent Yale MFA graduate comfort ifeoma katchy, You Can Tell a Tree by Its Fruit is a drama about who gets the opportunity to rise—and what must be sacrificed in pursuit of the American Dream.
Approximate run time: 2 hours without intermission
Age recommendation: Mature audiences 14 and older
Content Advisory: Contains strong language, racial slurs, and references to violence
Play Reading #5: The Daisies
By Tony Meneses
Directed by Danny Sharron
McCullough Theatre, 2 p.m.
Beloved local radio station 107.9 The Abyss is going off the air at the stroke of midnight. It’s the late 1990s, and stations are being bought up by corporate overlords—but DJ Santi is taking a stand. As he plays the same song on repeat, his colleagues rally around him, callers keep calling in, and the clock keeps ticking. The music is forever. That, they can never touch. UT Austin alumnus Tony Meneses returns to campus to debut his new play, a funny and moving exploration of what lasts and what matters.
Approximate run time: 90 minutes
Age recommendation: Mature audiences 17 and older
Content Advisory: Contains strong language and sexual references
