The VORTEX

Check out all the exciting events happening at The VORTEX this week! 🎙️ @everywordpoetry hosts VORTEX Voices Open Mic on our Butterfly Garden stage! Join us for an evening of spoken word, poetry, and storytelling. Share your original work, perform your favorite pieces, or simply sit back and take it all in. 🧠 Gather your team and flex your skills with @geekswhodrink Trivia Night every TUESDAY! If the weather requires, we will move Trivia Night inside the bar. 🍷 Enjoy 50% OFF ALL WINE from @butterfly_bar_atx every WEDNESDAY 🎻 Butterfly Bluegrass Jam is a monthly gathering of musicians! All instruments welcome 🎥 Screening of "Am I Queer Yet?: A Non-binary Black Experience" - Directed by @eccomusica @amiqueeryet - Thursday, May 14, 6:00PM 🎶 Listening party for the release of @locuust.yt 's newest EP "Map of the Brown Top." - Friday, May 15, 8:00PM

FREE VERSE is back. 🖤❤️💚 Join us Saturday, June 20th at 8PM for a Juneteenth Open Mic & Afterparty with every.Word Poetry at The VORTEX (@vortex_rep ). A night of poetry, music, celebration, liberation, and community. Hosted by Tender René (@millieux ) Sounds by DJ Jo (@itsdjjo ) Afterparty until 12:30AM in the Butterfly Bar (@butterfly_bar_atx ) Bring your poems. Bring your people. Bring your full self. 🎤 Performer sign up at the box office (Prioritizing Black voices on the mic) 🎟️ Sliding scale tickets: $15 / $29 / $39 📍The VORTEX — 2307 Manor Rd. 🍝 Food + drinks available from Patrizi’s & Butterfly Bar 💙 Fuse The World (@fuse.theworld ) Sponsored by The VORTEX. every.Word Poetry is a program of The Poet House (@3220poetlane ). The Poet House is a fiscally sponsored project of the Austin Creative Alliance (@austincreativea ). #poetry #atx #atxlife #openmic #poetrycommunity

Coming up on Memorial Day, 5/25 at The VORTEX, join us to watch this powerful documentary on a big screen, followed by a community discussion with local organizers. Synopsis: From Executive Producer Macklemore, The Encampments offers an urgent, intimate portrait of America’s student movement, ignited at Columbia University as students protested their universities’ ties to the war on Gaza. Their actions sparked a nationwide uprising, with encampments spreading across hundreds of campuses. Featuring detained activist Mahmoud Khalil, alongside professors, whistleblowers, and organizers, the film captures the deeper stakes of a historic moment that continues to reverberate across the globe. Trailer: https://youtu.be/wD3fpHjwsbw?si=6CbChFxy6zfMsFyg The VORTEX, 5/25, doors open at 6:00, show at 6:30. Free admission. Organized by Watermelon Film Club. Co-sponsors: Palestinian Youth Movement, Palestine Solidarity Committee, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the Austin for Palestine Coalition.

💫 Join us at The VORTEX for a staged reading of Anne Elliot’s Queer Little Heart by Taylor Flanagan on Saturday, June 6th at 1:30pm! In this tender and funny love letter to Jane Austen’s works, Anne Elliot (quintessential middle child of the snooty Elliot family) must choose between moving back in with her uncaring family or watching the courtship between her first love and the closest thing she has to a best friend 🌷 Queer joy & agony & hope & regret & reclamation & naval officers & love letters & lost family & found family all set in an alternate Regency era. Austen-inspired, Austin-developed 📍The VORTEX 📅 Saturday, June 6th at 1:30pm 🎟 RSVP through the link in our bio!

[A JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION] Before it became Federal it was a Black Holiday with deep significance to Black folks here in Texas. Our FREEDOM DAY. Our SECOND INDEPENDENCE. We show up and show out for 19 (sometimes 20) days leading up to JUNETEENTH. NOBODY does Juneteenth like TEXAS! And what better way to recognize us than through our voices? In 2024 I started an annual Black Queer Emancipation & Allies Open Mic. Through poetry, I wanted us to celebrate our resilence in the ongoing fight to Black freedom at the intersection of equality and PRIDE. As a Company Member for 10-years at the Vortex, I'm always grateful for the liberties I get to take, dreams I get to have, and joy they let me keep in programming and still being apart of the arts in Austin. This year, I'm hosting a invitational poetry slam. I made some special calls for judges and casted a wide net to my talented poetry homies in community as bout staff, contributors, and competitors. We're making history, yall! Thank you for being Trailblazers! On Friday, June 12th Austin will show up at large in loving support for the people, for the arts, and in celebration of the Black Queer Emancipation & Allies Slam at The Vortex Theater. Y'all know it's bout to be a whole lotta clapping. You can start now! Give it up for: Gigi Scotti B Breana Miller Jasmine Games Akeem Olaj Micailah OCaii Ms.Trin-I-Tee Tender René & entering the spotlight once again: JEAUX ANDERSON! Austin: Save the Date. Get your tickets now: /38-black-queer-emancipation-poetry-slam

👋 Another Kind of Dialogue: A Symposium on Deaf and Hearing Collaboration in Theatre - May 23-24, 2026 In conjunction with the National New Play Network (@nationalnewplaynetwork ) Rolling World Premiere of L M Feldman's Another Kind of Silence, The VORTEX is hosting Another Kind of Dialogue: A Symposium on Deaf and Hearing Collaboration in Theatre – a series of panel discussions that explores the challenges and rewards of deaf and hearing artists working together in theatre and presentations of new work by deaf and hard of hearing artists 🎭 👉 Featured conversations with artists include a panel on the process of creating Another Kind of Silence including playwright L M Feldman (@elemfeld ), our director, MoMo Holt (moniquezen) , who has been directly involved in the development of the play over several years; Kim Weild (@ kimweild) , the director of City Theatre’s (Pittsburgh) (@city_theatre ) production of Another Kind of Silence and City Theatre Artistic Director Clare Drobot (@darobot3 ) . We will also feature a larger discussion of deaf and hearing collaboration with Brian Cheslik (@brianandrewcheslik ), Artistic Director of Deaf Austin Theatre (@deafaustintheatre ), Lisa Scheps (@lisascheps67 ), Artistic Director of Ground Floor Theatre (@groundfloortheatre ), and Michael Baron (@michaelbaronikc ), Artistic Director of Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma (@lyrictheatreokc ). Our symposium also features TL Fosberg’s (@tlrockson ) Between Two Worlds, a solo show about Fosberg’s experience as a hard of hearing artist, and a reading of Philoctetes, a new Deaf Culture adaptation in spoken English and American Sign Language by playwright Garrett Zuercher (@deafplaywright ), directed by Kerry Cooler (@kerrycooler ). We hope this symposium will serve to inspire other theatre makers to seek out partners and work together to expand our ideas about what makes innovative and accessible theatre. 💫 FREE EVENT - Donations Welcome - Full Schedule and RSVP through the link in our bio!

📣 The VORTEX announces auditions for Summer Youth Theatre 2026 - Auditions/Interviews - May 16, 25, 26, 2026 🌀 The VORTEX seeks courageous, creative students ages 13-17 to participate in Summer Youth Theatre (SYT) 2026, an award-winning, intensive program that offers tuition-free training and experience for aspiring young theatre professionals. Students of any ethnicity, gender, ability/disability, economic background, and experience are invited to audition for the diverse youth ensemble, who will train together as they rehearse and perform the world premiere of Summer Underground by Marissa Castañón-Hernández, directed by Blaise Ricin. Summer Underground is the world premiere production of a startling new play by Marissa Castañón-Hernández, an Austin-based, award-winning playwright and educator. This play is set in Austin in the not too distant future and styled with “graphic novel” flair. A favorite from readings at The VORTEX’s 2023 Green New Theatre Symposium, Summer Underground firmly takes on environmental and class issues that determine who receives water and shelter ☀ 🎭 Summer Youth Theatre cultivates tools of theatre: teamwork, focus, discipline, precision, communication, and artistry. Now in its 34th year, SYT rehearses and performs evenings and weekends June 1-August 1, 2026. In addition to participating in a rigorous 5X a week rehearsal and workshop process, students create the full production (sets, props, costumes, lights, publicity) during hands-on workdays. Students also receive specialty workshops from professionals in various aspects of theatre. APPLICATION 🔗 available through the link in our bio! 📸 Photography by @errichp

Una noche bilingüe de poesía, música y comunidad ✨ A bilingual night of poetry, music, and collective care. Este lunes regresa Poesía cada.Palabra, nuestro micrófono abierto en español y bilingüe presentado por Mazat (@yulupalmazat ) en colaboración con The VORTEX. 🌱 We’ll also be uplifting Comunidad Sol (@comunidadsol_org ), a Maya-led organization supporting Indigenous communities impacted by migration. 🎤 Open Mic / Micrófono Abierto 📅 May 18th 2026 🕗 8PM 📍 The VORTEX — 2307 Manor Rd, ATX 🎟️ Free with RSVP / Gratis con RSVP Comida • Bebidas • Poesía • Música Food • Drinks • Poetry • Music The Monday night open mic is made possible through The VORTEX’s partnership. every.Word Poetry is a program of The Poet House (@3220poetlane ). The Poet House is a sponsored project of the Austin Creative Alliance (@austincreativea ). #poetry #atx #atxlife #openmic #spokenword

📣🧚‍♀️ Hark, fair maidens, town drunkards, and mischievous faeries! Coming this summer - Shakespeare But One Of Is Drunk: A Midsummer Night’s Dream - August 13-22, 2026 🍻 Gather ‘round for a night of comedy, live music, magic, and inebriation. We cast 6 of the best actors in Austin. For 6 months straight, we rehearsed a perfect production of Shakespeare’s greatest play: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Now, one of us will get verifiably sloshed each night and our troupe will put on a show you’ll never forget... and our Drunk will never remember 🌺 📍 The VORTEX @vortex_rep @butterfly_bar_atx 📅 August 13-22, 2026 🎟️ Tickets available through the link in our bio! Featuring: Olivia Rose McCain @call_me_luu Lilly Percifield @lilly.percifield Dane Parker @dane.b.parker Campbell Duffy @campbellhale Oskar Brian @vampyrrd Hayden Daniel Cox @haydendanielcox Paisley Blair @technoreliquary Live musical accompaniment by Ritika Bhattacharjee @ritika.bhattacharjee.creative Directed by Insha Iqbal @insha0414 Stage managed by Jessika Land @jessika.land Lighting Design by Amy Lewis @amylewis4634 Intimacy Direction by Andi Lindsey @a_diehard Produced by GOBSMACKED @gobsmacked.official

ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ɪɴ ᴄᴀꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ! 1. ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ’ꜱ ᴀ ᴛʜᴇᴀᴛʀᴇ ɪɴ ᴀᴜꜱᴛɪɴ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴏʀᴛᴇx. 2. ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴄᴏɴᴊᴜʀᴇ ᴜʀɢᴇɴᴛ, ᴜɴᴀꜱʜᴀᴍᴇᴅ ᴀʀᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ɪɴ ᴀ ꜱʜɪꜰᴛɪɴɢ ᴀɢᴇ. 3. ᴛʜᴇʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀꜱʜɪᴘ ᴇᴠᴇɴᴛꜱ 💫 ᴡᴀɴɴᴀ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴀ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ? ʟɪɴᴋ ɪɴ ʙɪᴏ! 💛 #austin #atxtheatre #analog #camcorder #atxcommunity

🌊 OPENING MAY 21 - Another Kind of Silence at The VORTEX! Shows run through June 7, 2026 Love. Silence. Desire - Signed, Spoken, and Felt. 🌀 The VORTEX continues its “Pursuit of Happiness” season with the Rolling World Premiere of Another Kind of Silence, a new, bilingual play in English and ASL (American Sign Language) by L M Feldman, directed by MoMo Holt. A National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere, this production unites Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing artists and audiences into a fully integrated bilingual experience. Performed simultaneously in signed ASL and spoken English, Another Kind of Silence examines relationships shaped by difference. Deaf, Deaf-Blind, hard-of-hearing, and hearing characters are paired with a “chorus” - another voice, another body - revealing interior thoughts and emotional truths through a second language. Layered communication and embodied storytelling drive the work, expanding the possibilities of bilingual theatre while centering collective well-being The characters’ intersecting stories move through love, fulfillment, hunger, and silence, tracing their journeys as they search for a way forward. What is signed, what is spoken, and what is left unspoken forms a richly textured theatrical language of transformation 🎭 TICKETS 🎟 available through the link in our bio!

Tonight! We are outside on the Garden Stage UNLESS the weather has another plan for us, then we will be in the Butterfly Bar. Come celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with us! 🌟✨ We’re celebrating the Asian Diaspora with an amazing feature from Tâm Lê (@tam_le_nguyen ) and poetic hostess Rachael’s Eve (@fried_steamed_boyled ) 🖤✨ 🗓️Monday, May 11th ⏰ 8-10PM 📍 The VORTEX (@vortex_rep ) 🦋 The Butterfly Bar (@butterfly_bar_atx ) 💙 Fuse The World (@fuse.theworld ) Sign ups on Eventbrite Free to attend. RSVPs helps us build! The Monday night open mic is made possible through The VORTEX’s partnership. every.Word Poetry is a program of The Poet House (@3220poetlane ). The Poet House is a sponsored project of the Austin Creative Alliance (@austincreativea ). #poetry #atx #atxlife #openmic #spokenword