Courtesy of Dave Lieber
Playwright Dave Lieber penned the play, "AMON!", which dramatizes the life of Amon Carter.
While he’s routinely described as Mr. Fort Worth, you’ll have to make the short drive to Hurst to see a play about Amon Carter. The family-friendly Artisan Theater will perform the comedic drama, “AMON! The Ultimate Texan,” a biographical play about the media mogul and city’s biggest cheerleader, Aug. 27 – Sept. 10.
The play, which was penned by Dallas Morning News columnist Dave Lieber, was first performed at the Artisan Center Theater in 2019. For those who don’t know, Carter played a key role in the transition of Fort Worth to becoming a hub of activity and world-class city. The legend was the founder and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and namesake behind the Amon Carter Museum — along with a myriad of other Fort Worth landmarks; a lot of things are named after the guy.
"It was important that everything be accurate; the words spoken are as close to the words as possibly they could be," Lieber says in a previous interview with Fort Worth Magazine. "I didn't take any poetic license and add, enhance, increase, or fabricate like I could have done in theater because theater allows you, but I wanted it to be as real as real could be."
The play stems from the pages of its companion book, Amon: The Texan Who Played Cowboy for America by Jerry Flemmons. Since its initial 2019 performance, the play has traveled to four other cities in North Texas, except for Dallas – which is apropos considering Carter’s disdain for Dallas.
Artisan Center Theater will hold the play at its Second Stage facility, which seats 150. Performances will run from Saturday, Aug. 27 to Sept. 10, with matinee and evening times available.
444 East Pipeline Rd., Hurst, Texas