Cowtown

by Glenn Hutchison

READING - MAY 17, 2025

Directed by Benjamin McElroy

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Mike is an assistant professor at a state university in Florida, and he’s applying for tenure. However, he may lose his promotion and teaching position, because his controversial book about to be published may violate new state laws restricting academic freedom. His colleague/romantic partner, Kate, advises him to remove a chapter, so he can keep his job. But that may not be enough for the Dean, who dislikes Mike and wants him out of the department.

Mike’s father recently passed away, and the play begins with Mike at the family home in Texas. His mother, Margaret, and brother, Jon, want to sell the house to settle some family debts. Mike also learns that Gerald, his father’s son from a previous marriage, will inherit a portion of the estate since his father never made a will.

Mike wants to keep his job and save the family home, but there may be too many obstacles for him to do either. Tensions escalate as Kate becomes interim chair of his department and his brother gets an offer on the house. And in his dreams, Mike is haunted by the cowboy brother he never knew and the censored books hidden by his sister-in-law, Ashley, a middle school librarian.

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Performance Date
Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 2pm

Performance Location
Outcry Theatre Rehearsal Location
1915 North Central Expressway, Suite 120
Plano, TX  75075

This was a developmental reading as part of the 2025 Outcry Reads Festival. The local playwright, Glenn Hutchison, was in attendance. There was a talkback following the reading, moderated by director Benjamin McElroy, where the audience members and actors discussed the play with the playwright.

MIKE
Cary Bazan
KATE
Nancy Lopez
JON
Alexander Delacruz-Nunez
ASHLEY
Ashli L. Moses
GERALD
Alejandro Erives
MARGARET
Erika Bazan
MATT
Benjamin McElroy