ENSEMBLE THEATRE

www.ensemblehouston.com
3535 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77002
Phone: 713-520-0055 

The Ensemble Theatre Artistic Director EILEEN J. MORRIS

The Ensemble Theatre Presents its 48th Season

HOUSTON (2024) -- The Ensemble Theatre has announced its 48^th Anniversary Season and it is full of fresh, new and expansive art.  The Season theme is “Season of Change” and The Ensemble Theatre is living up to its Season theme-even before the Season has arrived!

"The Ensemble Theatre's theme for this season is very relevant. We are in a season of change as a nation, as a community, and as artists.”

               Celeste Bedford-Walker, Playwright ‘Camp Logan’

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The Ensemble Theatre 2024 – 2025 Season:

STEW

Written by Zora Howard

Directed by Eileen J. Morris

September 20 – October 13, 2024

The 48^th Season opens with ‘Stew,’ a regional premiere in which three generations of women in the Tucker family convene in the sanctity of Mama’s kitchen to prepare a family meal.  ‘Stew’ is a powerful study of African American women as they tangle with each other while attempting to meet a deadline for the eponymous one pot meal.

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TWELVE WAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Written by CHIKA KABA MA'ATUNDE
Directed & Choreographed by AISHA USSERY
Musical Direction by CHIKA KABA MA'ATUNDE

November 15 – December 29, 2024

The Season continues with a holiday production, ‘12 Ways of Christmas.’ This timeless family production reminds us that while the season may mean something different from one person to the next, the true message remains the same.  Enjoy an eclectic blend of Jazz, R&B, and Gospel as you journey through this fusion of fun, joy, loneliness, jealousy and grief with the “12 ways”; including romantic Christmas, military Christmas, family Christmas and true Christmas.

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CAMP LOGAN

Written by CELESTE BEDFORD WALKER
Directed by ALLIE WOODS, JR.

January 24 – February 23, 2025

The Ensemble Theatre’s Black History Month production is the critically acclaimed ‘Camp Logan,’ which was inspired by actual events.  ‘Camp Logan’ is an award-winning World War I military drama about the devastating explosion of racial tensions that resulted in the 1917 Houston riot, involving an all-Black Army regiment stationed in Houston, Texas.

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FLEX

Written by CANDRICE JONES
Directed by RACHEL HEMPHILL DICKSON

March 21 – April 13, 2025

The fourth production of the Season is a contemporary work titled ‘Flex .’  ‘Flex’ is a HIGH ADRENALINE regional premiere about swagger, determination and sticking together. A powerful play about a group of young ladies navigating the complexities of being young, Black and female in rural Arkansas while having dreams of making it to the WNBA, audiences explore the fierce strength of these young ladies while they traverse together on a high school basketball team. 

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COCONUT CAKE

Written by MELDA BEATY
Directed by EILEEN J. MORRIS

May 9 – June 1, 2025

The fifth production of the Season is a rolling world premiere in conjunction five other Black theatre companies titled ‘Coconut Cake.’ ‘Coconut Cake’ is a charming play about a group of men who have all entered the retirement era of their lives and convene regularly to meet up.  When a mysterious woman moves into the abandoned house down the street, everything changes forever.

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THE TAP DANCE KID

Written by CHARLES BLACKWELL,
HENRY KRIEGER and ROBERT LORICK
Directed by KATHRYN ERVIN
Musical Direction by PHILLIP HALL
Choreographed by MONICA JOSETTE

June 27 – July 27-2025

The Season finale is the incredible ‘The Tap Dance Kid.’  ‘The Tap Dance Kid’ is sure to be a full-on musical spectacular about a ten-year-old boy named Willie with dreams of making it big on Broadway like his uncle & mentor, who is a Broadway choreographer.  Willie’s dreams are what keeps audiences tapping along throughout this production!

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With a Season of Change upon The Ensemble Theatre, there is much to be enjoyed by new audiences and established patrons alike, with a few fun surprises woven into every production. 

About The Ensemble Theatre

The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and enlighten, entertain, and enrich a diverse community. It is the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, it also holds the distinction of being one of the nation's largest African American theatres that owns and operates its facility with an in-house production team. Forty-seven years later, the theatre remains one of Houston’s finest historical cultural institutions.  

The Ensemble Theatre produces a main stage season of six contemporary and classic works devoted to the portrayal of the African American experience by local and national playwrights and artists. The theatre’s Performing Arts Education program provides educational workshops, Artist-in-Residence experiences, and a season of live performances for students both off-site and at the Theatre. The Young Performers Program offers intensive summer training for children ages 6 to 17 encompassing instruction in all disciplines of the theatre arts.  

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THE ENSEMBLE THEATRE