Thanks for making our 48th season so special!

We are grateful to you for joining us at Hip Pocket Theatre! This has truly been a season to remember!

We shared FIVE productions (three were world premieres!) spun from homemade magic, the kind that makes Hip Pocket like no other theatre experience around. It has been inspiring and uplifting for us as we welcomed some of the finest artists in our local community and beyond (all the way from New York City!) to collaborate on 6 powerful projects!

We started out with A Twisty Intergalactic Spectacle by internationally renowned theatre creator, Basil Twist, paired with Broadway vet, Ken Ard, and local jazz legend, Joe Rogers. We followed that with a Shakespeare classic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, made perfect for our rustic summer stage by local director, Yvonne Duque-Guerrero.

Our third offering had us indoors (air conditioned) with an exciting new partnership at the historic Southside Preservation Hall. The duo Lake Simons and John Dyer traveled from Brooklyn, NY and shared a stunning new visual movement theatre work, Raft Project, (My Shapes Are In Turmoil). Our fourth production was Big Love by Charles Mee, a rambunctious spirited show that electrified our stage by the creative visionary director, Emily Scott Banks.

We ended our season with the eerie and poetically image-rich story of Kafka’s Gregor with Metamorphosis in an original adaptation created by Christina Cranshaw. And finally, we celebrated at the Twilight Soiree, an immersive site specific, multi-generational performance on our prairie. Designed and directed by NYC based theatre artists, Erin K. Orr and Chris Green, they brought our community together with free workshops and opportunities for everyone to get involved in the magic!

See you in 2025!

With deep appreciation for your continued support and love of Hip Pocket Theatre,

Lake & Lorca Simons

Artistic Directors of Hip Pocket Theatre

Hip Pocket Theatre has been a vital part of the performing arts in Texas since 1976, when founders Johnny Simons, Diane Simons, and Douglas Balentine first staged their interdisciplinary plays under the stars in Fort Worth. Since its founding, the theater has grown its global reach and capacity for genre-defying programming, while staying true to the bold, playful, and magical.

Hip Pocket incorporates dance, mime, music, masks, and puppetry to create a universal language that can tell stories at once childlike and urgent. The scripts, the stage, and the performers at Hip Pocket build on a lexicon unique to its pioneering roots, and each performance is an homage to what it means to create a space for theater.

Hip Pocket honors the new vision of each artistic generation as an unfolding of time. Johnny and Diane’s daughters, Lorca and Lake, now carry the theater’s vision forward with their new directorship. They embody Hip Pocket's evolving vocabulary of storytelling and movement, and as veteran creators for its stage, look to expand its legacy of original, boundary-bending works. As Lorca and Lake bring with them lifelong careers and experience in the arts, they conscientiously seek to prioritize the theater's accessibility, inclusivity, and international reach.

Hip Pocket Theatre, as both experimental playhouse and environmental visual installation, has a long-standing outreach program comprising community based events and enriching healing arts programming. It is dedicated now, as always, to bringing guest artists from around the globe and throughout Fort Worth to collaborate on projects each season.
Lake Simons, Managing Artistic Director
Lorca Simons, Producing Artistic Director
Johnny Simons, Consulting Artistic Director
Gianina Lambert, Managing Director
Peggy Bott Kirby, Director of Finance and Development
Rebecca Sinclaire, Administrative Assistant
Board of Directors:
Holly Nelson Ellman, President
Tracy Stearns Bush, Vice President
Jesse Borries, Secretary
Quentin McGown, Treasurer
Aaron Butler
Lauren Ivy Chiong
Nikki Deshea Smith
Marian Eastman
Yvonne Duque- Guerrero
Paul Hamilton
Thad Isbell
John Key
John Leach
Barbara Wooten Meece
Brian Pierce
Maria Solano
Leslie Zvitt
Artistic Advisory Board:
Bruce Balentine
Barbara Busackino
Andy Corren
Alex Cowan
Ellen Mahoney Crouse, PhD.
Tom Crouse
Scott Ferree
Peter Fodera
Deborah Freed
Loli Kantor
Dr. John P. Murphy
Basil Twist
Greg Vore
Joe Waller
Ms. Linda Whittington
We love our volunteers! Come out and join in! Be part of the action and lend a hand! For more info on how you can volunteer and lend a hand call us or email us.
817-246-9775
hpt@hippocket.org
Throughout our season we welcome volunteers! If you have experience with box office, as an usher, or would like to help us in any way- we can likely use your help! Contact us at the above number or email us.
GET INVOLVED! BE HIP!

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Thanks to a generous anonymous donor we have this incredible opportunity to GROW!

With this match we are able to add an important role to our team! This will make a world of difference for us and support how we move ahead beyond 50 years!

Make a gift today and see it DOUBLE!