
In his new play, UT Dallas drama professor Fred Curchack interacts with videos of his wife, his mother, his daughter and his granddaughter on his quest to find the secret of life. Grandpa’s Home Videos, a solo piece that Curchack also wrote, premiered last month in Petaluma, Calif., and will be playing in Dallas for three weeks at the Bath House Cultural Center. Curchack describes the semi-autobiographical Grandpa’s Home Videos as “a contemplation of the nature of ‘self’ and how individual identity develops, evolves and ultimately falls away. It uses video, songs and comedy to confront the fundamental illusion that is the source of so much confusion in our lives.”

The 2009-2010 Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum Awards were announced on Sept. 15, and University of Texas at Dallas drama professor Fred Curchack received a special citation for “being a true renaissance theater artist.” Curchack was also one of four actors to receive an Ensemble Award for the Undermain Theatre production of Samuel Beckett's Endgame.Three former UT Dallas theater students also received awards. David Lozano co-wrote and directed Crystal City 1969, which received an award for New Play. Josh Glover’s company, Upstart Players, which he founded and produces, won several awards. SubUrbia, which Josh directed, won for Ensemble, Actor and Design; and Talk Radio, which Josh produced, won for Actor and Design. Former student Maryam Baig-Lush was a member of the winning ensemble cast of subUrbia as well.
Faculty member Fred Curchack will direct Monkey: The Quest to the West, a play he adapted for the stage from the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West, at UT Dallas April 10-19. Performances will run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. in the University Theatre. The story follows the supernatural trickster Monkey, who makes war with heaven until he is imprisoned under a mountain by Buddha. After 500 years, he is released to protect a Buddhist monk on his perilous journey from China to India to bring back spiritual texts. On the way they encounter all manner of deities, demons, monsters and outrageous misadventures.
Beginning March 31, a professor in the School of Arts and Humanities at T he University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), Fred Curchack, will direct An American Dream Play, a production that he also wrote. The play is set to open in UTD’s University Theatre and runs through April 9, with Friday and Saturday performances at 8 p.m ., and Sunday performances at 2:30 p.m. In the play, God’s daughter comes to earth to experience what it is like to be human. Feasting on the fruits of civilization, she discovers marriage, family, education, politics, war and religion. The production is a reworking of August Strindberg’s classic, A Dream Play, which follows the wisdom of the subconscious on a journey into and beyond modern life.

UTD Professor and acclaimed theatre artist Fred Curchack will premiere the full-stage adaptation of his one-man show, Gauguin's Paradise , in the University Theatre at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) March 26, 27 and 28 and April 2, 3 and 4. Friday and Saturday performances will begin at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Curchack will transform his one-man show, Gauguin's Shadow , originally created to commemorate the 100 th anniversary of the death of artist Paul Gauguin, into a full-stage play, Gauguin's Paradise , for a student cast.