{"id":153379,"date":"2026-02-06T06:57:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/153379\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T06:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T06:57:23","slug":"couple-hits-deer-mayhem-ensues-in-theatre-three-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/153379\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple hits deer, mayhem ensues in Theatre Three show"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a couple headed to their cabin in the Poconos hits the title character of Aaron Mark\u2019s Deer with their car, the ensuing dispute about what to do with the animal exposes fissures in their 30-year marriage that will turn violent.<\/p>\n

The play is often funny, with Theatre Three<\/a>\u2019s production getting everything right. Under the direction of Christie Vela, Shannon J. McGrann and Chad Cline give grounded performances as Cynthia and Ken, making their characters\u2019 descent as believable as possible. <\/p>\n

Ken calls the accident a suicide attempt and the very definition of roadkill. But Cynthia insists on taking the apparently dead deer with them. She\u2019s about to lose her mind as the depths of Ken\u2019s narcissism spill out like the deer\u2019s blood. Jeffrey Schmidt\u2019s scenic design in Theatre Three\u2019s small basement black box sets the stage for the mayhem to come.<\/p>\n

A red leather couch doubles as the car\u2019s front seat and the cabin\u2019s living room couch. This is where Cynthia will try to nurse the deer back to life, propping it up on pillows and then crawling beneath it. The physical comedy of Deer is half its appeal \u2014 alongside the snappy dialogue.<\/p>\n

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\"Chad<\/p>\n

Chad Cline and Shannon J. McGrann make their characters\u2019 descent as believable as possible in Theatre Three’s production of Aaron Mark’s “Deer.”<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Schmidt<\/p>\n

Ken\u2019s a self-involved novelist. Cynthia\u2019s never liked his work. Having given up on bigger dreams, she teaches school to support the family. When she reads his latest at the cabin, she says she loves it, perhaps wishful thinking as its success could alter her miserable situation. <\/p>\n

Bad marriages like this usually end in divorce or the couples simply endure or overlook their differences. Every once in a while, they get as ugly as Deer and grab headlines.<\/p>\n

But seemingly regular folks comically slipping into madness when they realize they\u2019ve been living a lie is a trope that Deer, even after the title character starts talking, never transcends. It\u2019s a piece of light, diverting entertainment we\u2019ve seen before and will soon forget.<\/p>\n

Details<\/p>\n

Through Feb. 22 at 2688 Laclede St. $37-$40. theatre3dallas.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Cara<\/a>February\u2019s packed with theater and dance shows in the D-FW area<\/a><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s lineup includes almost three dozen shows running or slated to open.<\/p>\n

\""Spectrum"<\/a>A global trio powers Teatro Dallas\u2019 boundary-pushing International Theatre Festival<\/a><\/p>\n

Shows from Portugal, Argentina and London bring experimental staging, political memory and post-pandemic dating culture to the Latino Cultural Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a couple headed to their cabin in the Poconos hits the title character of Aaron Mark\u2019s Deer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,5351,2509,18360],"class_list":["post-153379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-performing-arts","tag-theater","tag-theatre-three"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}