Guest Blogger Kimberly Richard is Theatre Three’s Director of Publications & Communications.  Theatre Three’s productions of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Snake in the Grass are both a part of the Free Night of Theater program.

I’m packing my suitcase for a trip to London.  It’s a routine I know fairly well.  I was in second grade the first time I went to London, and I’ve returned so many times, I’ve lost track of all of my trips.  London has always tugged at my imagination.  It’s one of those places where you feel the world is at your fingertips.  So strong was the appeal, I decided to spend my junior year of college in London, studying British literature and theater.  Like so many other college students, I was poor. Despite my lack of financial resources and terrible exchange rates, I was determined to experience all the theater this theater capital had to offer.  The “required books” for one of my theater classes were actually theater tickets to about 15 plays, and if I bought the whole packet of tickets at the beginning of the semester, it cost less than my required reading for one of my other theater classes.  I discovered a myriad of student discount plans at a variety of theaters, and I learned to stand in line in bitterly cold weather to get deeply discounted tickets.  While interning at The Royal Shakespeare Company and the English National Opera, I happily accepted my supervisors’ offers of free tickets for me and my equally poor friends.  After only a few weeks in London, I knew how to find a deal on tickets to some of the best theater in the world.  I’ve always treasured how accessible London theater was to me as a student.

Since graduating from college, I go back to London whenever I can.  Of course, I always plan to see some shows.  For this trip, I’ve already made reservations (no standing in the cold for me!) to The Globe’s production of As You Like It, The National’s production of War Horse and Billy Elliot The Musical. But I know I’m missing a spectacular theatrical deal here in Dallas.  Free Night of Theater is the sort of can’t-miss-opportunity I would have loved as a student.  A quick look at just a few of the theaters participating in Free Night of Theater and the shows they are offering is remarkable: WaterTower Theater’s Grey Gardens, Dallas Children’s Theater’s Junie B. Jones & A Little Monkey Business, Contemporary Theatre of Dallas’ Rabbit Hole, Second Thought Theatre’s A Lie of the Mind, and Jubilee Theatre’s The Dance on Widow’s Run.  In addition to showcasing the diversity of this growing theater community, Free Night of Theater makes Dallas theater accessible for everyone. And it is so easy!  Each Monday at noon for the next 4 weeks, you can go to Free Night of Theater’s Web site and reserve free tickets for great entertainment.  You don’t have to pack a bag, buy a plane ticket, endure a long flight, suffer from jet lag, reserve a hotel room, or even stand in the frigid cold for a discounted ticket to a great show.  It is all right here in Dallas: superb artists, fascinating stories and sensational entertainment.  This is the perfect time to discover the intriguing array of Dallas theater.  Free. Live. Local. Theater.  Don’t miss it!