Soul Rep Theatre Company proudly announces its 2025–2026 season, a powerful lineup that continues to uplift Black voices through bold new work, classic revivals, and community-centered storytelling. As part of its ongoing 30th year commemoration, Soul Rep deepens its commitment to legacy, innovation, and cultural memory with a season that embodies its inspiring mission and artistic excellence.
Anchoring the season is The Parrish Charitable Foundation August Wilson Play Series, featuring two pivotal chapters from Wilson’s iconic and groundbreaking American Century Cycle of plays. Audiences will experience the North Texas premiere of KING HEDLEY II, a co-production with Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC), October 9 – October 26 at BATC, located in North Oak Cliff, and the Dallas premiere of GEM OF THE OCEAN, in February, at the South Dallas Cultural Center. Both productions will be directed by Soul Rep’s Los Angeles based company member, Jemal McNeil, a celebrated acting coach “to the stars” and notable director.
“We are committed to supporting our local community, especially within the educational, community development, and arts sectors,” says Roland Parrish of the Parrish Charitable Foundation. “Our foundation is pleased to underwrite Soul Rep’s productions of these two important August Wilson plays that will mark my personal goal of experiencing all ten of his Century Cycle plays.” KING HEDLEY II, a gripping tale of hope and redemption set in 1985 Pittsburgh, will feature a dynamic cast of local actors including Jamal Sterling, Dennis Raveneau, Anyika McMillan-Herod, Olivia Lewis, Jerrold Trice, and Brian Gibson. Set in 1904, GEM OF THE OCEAN, which bridges African ancestral memory with the 20th-century Black experience, is the first play in Wilson’s ten-part play series chronologically, but the last to be written and performed.
This inspiring season also includes the highly anticipated world premiere of MADAM QUEEN, the final work by beloved playwright and Soul Rep mentor, the late dianne tucker. Developed with support from the TACA New Works Fund, MADAM QUEEN, which will be presented in a multi-media format (both live theater and film), explores the larger-than-life story of Hannah Elias, a “passing” Black businesswoman who at the turn of the 20th century was one of the wealthiest in the world. She resided in a mansion at Central Park West and was involved in a sordid affair with a White man and a headlining blackmail case. MADAM QUEEN will be co-directed by two of the company’s co-founders, Guinea Bennett-Price and Tonya Holloway.
Rounding out the season is Soul Rep’s biennial TED SHINE NEW PLAY FESTIVAL, presented in honor of the legendary playwright who called Dallas home and was the college professor of several company members. This year’s festival embraces the theme of “Sankofa” – a word from the Akan language of Ghana meaning “to go back and get it.” Sankofa also symbolizes the company’s journey forward by reclaiming and honoring its impressive past. The festival will showcase a few favorite original short plays produced by the company in earlier festivals and two to three short plays penned by emerging young playwrights attending a Historically Black College or University.
“We are excited to present a season that honors our past, celebrates our present, and looks boldly toward the future,” said Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director Guinea Bennett-Price. “From the soul-stirring work of August Wilson to the triumphant world premiere of MADAM QUEEN, and the Sankofa energy of the TED SHINE NEW PLAY FESTIVAL, this season is a tribute to 30 years of Black stories and excellence on our stage.”
Season subscriptions and individual tickets are available at www.soulrep.org Soul Rep’s season is sponsored in part by generous support from an Anonymous Friend, City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, March Family Foundation, Mid America Arts Alliance, Moody Fund for the Arts, Parrish Charitable Foundation, TACA, and Texas Instruments Foundation.
