Key West’s Red Barn Theatre has announced the lineup for its 47th season.
The mainstage shows include a group of works by playwrights who have garnered numerous accolades, including the 2026 Tony and Pulitzer Awards. The plays range from romantic comedy to sexy, campy fun, to a look at mothers and daughters trying to navigate the early days of the Women’s Liberation Movement.
“It may be one of our strongest seasons ever,” said artistic director Joy Hawkins. “Excellent stories by excellent writers, cast with top actors who will deeply move and entertain you.”
The season opens with playwright Steven Dietz’s romantic comedy, “Shooting Star,” a tale of chance encounters and second chances. It centers on two college lovers who have not seen each other for years, but have a life-altering reunion when snowed in at a Midwestern airport. The play will star Key West favorites Dave Bootle and Lauren Thompson, directed by Hawkins. “Shooting Star” will run Dec. 8, 2026 through Jan. 2, 2027.
Opening Jan. 19 is “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen. It’s a mash-up of Bram Stoker, Mel Brooks and Monty Python. The show stars Susannah Wells, Erin McKenna, Phillip Cole White, Jody Orrigo and Dominic Paolillo, each of them playing several different characters; it will be directed by Mimi McDonald with costume design by Sushi. The story centers on two sisters, one of whom has “a disease of the blood,” so they enlist vampire hunter Van Helsing to find Dracula to help her. Their hunt for the dangerous and sexy count abounds with clever wordplay and quick-change antics.
The third mainstage show of the season is one of the most lauded shows of this past or any season: “Liberation” by Bess Wohl, winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Awards.
In 1970, somewhere in Ohio, six women meet on a basement basketball court to form a consciousness-raising group, determined to shake up their lives and change the world. Fifty years later, one of their daughters tries to understand where things fell apart. “Liberation” stars Morgan Fraga Pierson, Lauren Thompson, Cassidy Timms, Fritzie Estimond, Jessica Miano Kruel, Ivy Munnerlyn, Shannon Edwards and Jack McDonald.
The final production of the season brings back the perennial favorite “Short Attention Span Theatre,” an evening of short, punchy, funny, unpredictable short plays by well-known playwrights, all around a central theme.
One special event is set for this 47th season – singer Christine Mild returns with a new show, “For the Love of Country.” It will run January 5-9, 2027.
Tickets and more information are at redbarntheatre.com.
