The annual Theatre Walk Santa Fe gives theater buffs a chance to see the city’s local companies strut their stuff.

lthough Theatre Walk Santa Fe falls near the end of theater season, it doesn’t function as a “greatest hits” rehash of parproductions. ticipating companies’ 2023

Many of the 13 or 14 troupes expected to take part in this year’s showcase on Saturday, September 30, plan to present works develfour oped specifically for the event, held in empty storefronts at the Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe, says organizer Talia Pura. Several are making their debut at the walk, in its fifth year overall.

Plans were still being finalized when the outlet mall sold at auction for $5.9 million, but the sale won’t be finalized until after the event — so the shows will go on as planned.

“As of this moment, Theatre Santa Fe expects that the Theatre Walk will go on in that mall,” says Pura, president of the nonprofit Theatre Santa Fe, an arts marketing collaborative that organizes the walk.

The confirmed participants with roots in Santa Fe include the New Mexico Actors Lab, Santa Fe Playhouse, Upstart Crows, and Wise Fool, a circus, puppetry, and theater troupe. New to this year’s event are the Cloudtop Comedy Festival and Family Theater of Santa Fe.

“I’m going to put him in the only venue in the place that’s perfect for him,” Pura says of the Cloudtop Comedy Festival’s comic. “Theatre Santa Fe has been occupying a space in the fashion outlet mall for about a year, very unofficially. We built sort of a stage; we’ve got some curtains up. Now we have this lovely little theater that looks like it needs a stand-up comic, because it has a brick wall with windows along the top. It looks like it’s like an underground comedy club.”

Family Theater, meanwhile, was created by Santa Fe producers and directors Mark and Jeannette Kolokoff.

“They’re new in town, but their roots in professional theater run deep,” Pura says. “They are going to be presenting something at Christmas called Plaid Tidings, which is kind of a Christmas version of Forever Plaid. Think Jersey Boys, barbershop quartet. So they’re going to be doing some kind of excerpts from the play, which is going to be presented in its entirety in December.”

David Stallings teaches the workshop series at the Santa Fe Playhouse, where he serves as general manager in addition to acting and writing plays. He and some of his students will interact in front of attendees to give them an idea of what happens in an acting class.

Mandela International Magnet School and the New Mexico School for the Arts, both public schools, also will be represented, while actor and playwright Aaron

Leventman’s Almost Adults Productions is set to offer a full production of a yet-to-be-named play. Pura herself will perform a one-woman show focused on actress and singer Marlene Dietrich’s life.

Most performances will be indoors, in one of four normally empty stores. Theater companies will take turns performing in those spaces, while some, such as Upstart Crows, also will have a presence outdoors. Companies have 15 minutes per performance — which includes time for setup and takedown as well as for answering audience questions.

Theatre Walk has been held annually since 2018, with two exceptions: It was dark amid the pandemic in 2020, and two walks — in spring and fall — were held in 2022.

Pura says it’s difficult to track attendance; entrance is by donation, and those funds are divided among participating companies.

“There’s some really fine-quality work being done here,” Pura says. “People don’t think of the word ‘theater’ when they think Santa Fe. They think visual arts; they think chamber music. They think opera, for sure, but they don’t necessarily think theater. We’re doing our best to try to change that.”

Theatre Walk Santa Fe

1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, September 30 Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe, 8380 Cerrillos Road Donations requested theatresantafe.org

Brian Sandford l The New Mexican