Texture Contemporary Ballet Has ‘Eternal Beauty’ at New Hazlett; Carnegie Stage Hosts PICT’s ‘The Smuggler’ (Fri., 3/20/26)

ETERNAL BEAUTY (program of three dances). Texture Contemporary Ballet. March 20 – 22. 

1) Texture Contemporary Ballet, a unique Pittsburgh-based company, describes its artistic approach as one that “fuses the power and precision of classical ballet with the freedom and creativity of contemporary dance.” Texture is also a new-works company, presenting only original pieces created by resident or guest artists. And while many troupes mark their anniversary seasons by performing favorites from the repertoire, Texture is wrapping up its 15th season with an all-new show, titled Eternal Beauty. Three dances are scheduled. “Architecture of the Soul,” by resident choreographer Madeline Kendall Schreiber, is set to music that seems ideal for the occasion: composer Anna Clyne’s soaring cello concerto called “DANCE.” Next on the program is “Woman,” by guest choreographer and former Texture dancer Alexandra Tiso. Alan Obuzor, Texture’s founding artistic director, then closes the evening with his latest work, “Moment of Impact.” 7:30 p.m. See all three when Eternal Beauty is staged at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. (M.V.) 

THE SMUGGLER by Ronán Noone. PICT Classic Theatre. Through March 22. 

2) A strange thing happened when Irish-American dramatist Ronán Noone sat down to write a script for a TV pilot. The script took on a life of its own, mutating into a stage play—a one-man play. In rhyming verse. If the latter sounds too weird to enjoy, consider that Hamilton is in rhyming verse, which has worked out pretty well. Then go to see the PICT Classic Theatre production of Ronán Noone’s play, The Smuggler. It’s a dark-comic tale told by a blustery bartender. The character is an Irish immigrant who came to America to be a writer but wound up serving drinks. Rapping in loopy eloquence, he describes how he made the money to have a tavern of his own. Not by all-American hard work, but by finding ways to profit from the trade of smuggling undocumented refugees into the country. His tale is loaded with moral ambiguity—and though The Smuggler was written before the recent ICE crackdowns, its subject matter couldn’t be timelier. The play has won acclaim in New York, Chicago, and elsewhere. PICT presents the Pittsburgh-area premiere of The Smuggler, acted by Michael Patrick Trimm. 7:30 p.m. at Carnegie Stage, 25 W. Main St., Carnegie. (M.V.)

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