Meet The Zahir: Austin's New Dramatic Arts Company
"Sometimes it’s easier to start your own thing than to persuade others to invest in your vision."
-Noah Masterson
Austin, TX–After seeing The Zahir’s OVERSIGHT at Hyde Park Theatre in August, I invited its playwright and producer, L.B. Deyo (dee-oh), and co-producer Noah Masterson to meet me at the Texas State Capitol for a shoot. It was a blast getting to know the two of them and learning how The Zahir came to be. And what I learned reinforced something I keep running into: you don't have to know exactly how to do something to start doing it.
How did they meet?
Deyo and Masterson were introduced in early 2025 by their mutual friend, writer and musician Chad Nichols, who, according to Deyo, “knew we were both writing plays and thought we'd enjoy each other's work.”
Nichols, who is now on The Zahir’s board of directors, invited Masterson into the writing group he shared with Deyo.
"We seemed to have a lot in common," says Masterson.
Deyo had just completed his first draft of Apprehension, a play for which he later won an Austin Theatre Critics Award for Outstanding Original Script, and Masterson had just completed his first draft of THE EGG, which will be their second production, opening October 29 at the Rosette.
"Initially I pitched L.B. on staging both of our plays together,” says Masterson. “Instead, we dreamed up an insane musical about Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton. Someday I hope we can stage it, but it is insane.”
But what made them start a production company together?
Masterson pokes at the question with more questions. “Necessity is the mother of invention? No one seemed to want what we were selling?”
"I've always been a do-it-yourself guy," says Deyo. "Still, I don't know if I would have pulled the trigger if I hadn't met Noah, who was as keen to do it as I was and who brought some very complementary skills.”
“We both come from DIY/punk rock backgrounds," Masterson confirms. "Sometimes it’s easier to start your own thing than to persuade others to invest in your vision." He also explains, "I had to learn what a producer does when we started this company, and it turns out I enjoy it."
What even is a Zahir?
“The Zahir gets its name from a short story by the Argentine genius Jorge Luis Borges,” explains Deyo. Essentially, it’s a cursed object. "Whoever possesses it becomes incurably obsessed with it, to the point of being unable to think of anything else.”
Ohhh, they want people to be obsessed with their work. I get it.
“It also represents something we’re trying to resist,” Deyo elaborates, “the modern obsessions, as with smartphones, that cause us to withdraw from friends and family and community.”
Oh! But they also want to bring people together!
In fact, The Zahir's mission is “to create obsession-worthy theater that draws people out of isolation and back into conversation.”
Genre, c’est quoi?
“I’m trying to think of how Netflix would categorize it,” Masterson muses. “Cerebral? Provocative? Enthralling?”
“So far I'd say we write comedic thrillers in the tradition of Hitchcock's funnier movies. We may not always restrict ourselves to that. But I'm very comfortable writing things that are funny and scary. I think it's because I see life as funny and scary,” says Deyo.
Masterson adds, “L.B. and I write very differently. But the throughline is that all of our plays are original and entertaining as [expletive]." He also observes, "Theater is inherently ridiculous, so the more seriously you take it, the better."
This sounds like theatre for funny brainy people with a lot of heart.
What have been the hardest and best things about starting their own production company?
So far, the hardest parts for Deyo have much more to do with his own neuroses than anything that’s happened. Examples include someone not liking his work or someone taking too long to respond. Or not selling out on a given night. “And of course these things that I so dread are actually unavoidable parts of doing what we do. So I just have to be less of a white-livered craven weak scraping coward, and cowboy up," says Deyo.
"The hardest part for me is asking for money," says Masterson. "There will still always be a funding gap.”
Deyo also acknowledges the generosity they've received: "I'm not crazy about fundraising, but people's generosity has been astounding and I can never fully express my gratitude."
“The best part of all has been meeting and working with the brilliantly talented people of the Austin theater community," says Deyo. "It's like a party. I love it."
“I’ve also enjoyed deepening my friendship with L.B. We hadn’t known each other very long when we took this leap of faith, but we are similarly responsive and obsessive, and that dynamic serves the company well. Our Discord chats go on for miles and miles," says Masterson.
The Zahir also strives to pay its cast and crew fairly. “It’s baked into our budgets from the start,” says Masterson, who also serves as the company’s treasurer. “I get great satisfaction out of pushing the button that sends people money from our bank account,” he happily admits.
So, what’s next for The Zahir?
Alongside THE EGG, The Zahir will present a staged reading of Kirk Wood Bromley's The American Revolution on November 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the French Legation.
Masterson says he'll also be heavily involved in the production of Deyo’s The Minotaur, as he was with OVERSIGHT. He's also "working on a new play, which will be staged at Hyde Park Theatre in August 2027."
"My ambitions for The Zahir are large and are growing," says Deyo. "At first I just wanted to produce a couple plays and see what happened. Now I'll be disappointed if we haven't conquered North America by 2030, and then the world."
Pro tip: Look into ATX Theatre and ScriptWorks. Yes, you.
"Local organizations like ATX Theatre and ScriptWorks are doing heroic work to lift up the Austin theater community and get butts in seats," says Masterson. "We want to be good community partners, too, and would love to collaborate with other production companies. Get in touch!" www.the-zahir.org
L.B. Deyo and Noah Masterson, co-founders of The Zahir, photographed at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. Photos by Jess Lovett | to the stage!
THE EGG’s tagline is “a dark comedy about technology gone very, very wrong.” But THE EGG is also about “love and friendship and fear of dying and also about freakish birdpeople,” says Masterson. “I am a big believer in taking mediocre ideas and working on them until they are good or even great ideas.”
When he and his wife were "courting,” they played a game of “Would You Rather” and were laughing hysterically. Masterson recalls asking her something along the lines of, “Would you rather have to painfully pluck feathers from your face every morning, or lay an egg in public once a month?” He says that is not the plot of THE EGG, “but it is the original, somewhat mediocre inspiration.”
THE EGG opens October 29 at the Rosette.
Get tickets and information.
