Jacob Waters stars as Jim Quinn alongside Hunter Howard as Alan Hoffman
in Second Chance Players’ production of Prodigal Son

RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com

A new partnership has bloomed in the local theater scene, rooted in two decades of friendship. Bill Shea and Tim Johnson have combined their passions for storytelling into a milestone for Second Chance Players and Kitchen Dog Theater, marking an historic moment for both as Shea’s SCP stages its first show in Dallas proper, and KDT hosts an outside theater in its brand-new space.

A nomadic company, SCP has mostly produced in the far north suburbs. It’s been four years since its inception and three since its inaugural show, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, which was staged in Plano.

The company has since performed the musical Next to Normal and last year’sThe Laramie Project — but all of them have been staged outside of Dallas proper.

But SCP opened Prodigal Son on Thursday, May 7, and it runs through this weekend. And the opportunity to undertake the production was significant enough to Shea that he jumped at the opportunity.

“Us being a vagabond company, I felt this would be a perfect partnership,” Shea said. “Tim and I’ve known each other for years, and I’m a fan of Kitchen Dog. We rekindled our friendship, and I told him about who we are. And he was open to the idea.”

xThanks to Kitchen Dog Theatre, Second Chance Players are staging its first production, Prodigal Son, in Dallas proper. The show is directed by Caleb Ross and features Jacob Waters, Hunter Howard, Stephanie Stark, Patrick Britton and Jeffrey Miller

Johnson is Kitchen Dog’s managing director, and he has been with KDT for almost 30 years. When he found a slot that SCP could take in its newly completed house, Shea didn’t hesitate: “We’ll take it.”

In some ways, Prodigal Son, directed by Caleb Ross, is a passion project. Ross’ obsession with the play began years ago when he was a teen, his passion fueled by the remake noted as Timothee Chalamet’s breakout off-Broadway moment, when the show found a sort of second life via Chalamet’s popularity on TikTok at the time.

“It might as well be my autobiography,” Ross said of the play’s story, noting how the on-stage coming-of-age experience resonated for him personally.

Prodigal Son is a one-act play by John Patrick Shanley that spans two years in the life of Jim Quinn, a brilliant but violent youth from the Bronx who receives a scholarship to a private boarding school in New Hampshire.

The Second Chance production’s cast includes Jacob Waters as Jim, Hunter Howard, Stephanie Stark, Patrick Britton and Jeffrey Miller.

The story relies on the contrast of Jim’s gruffness to this new, polished environment, but it also pits his staunch macho mentality, as Ross described it, against a world of poetry, art and religion.

“Jim feels that his youth and where he grew up is something he has to live up to,” the director said. “It’s about learning to be a man, a person, and making choices in life.”

The out director doesn’t find much queer about the show, but Ross mentions that Jim’s story can resonate through its own queer coding.

“He struggles with what it means to be a man, and his character arc is figuring out that how he was doesn’t have to determine how he will be,” Ross said.

And having three queer men steering the show — Shea, Johnson and Ross — provides enough queer interest all on its own.

For tickets, visit SecondChancePlayers.org.

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