Triumph Amongst Turmoil

Local favorite Rachel Marrs (center) will star in the upcoming regional premiere of “Dog Mom” at Cadence. One of her last appearances on stage was in “Pump Boys and Dinettes” at Swift Creek Mill this past spring (shown with Toby O’Brien at left and Eric Williams). The Mill is one of several theaters working through institutional turmoil this year. Credit: Darryl Morgan Photography.

Institutional challenges aren't stopping local theaters from fascinating fall shows.

Originally published by Style Weekly
by Rich Griset and David Timberline
September 12, 2026

A relentless stream of administrative news has made the local theater world so tempestuous that it’s been hard to focus on the productions actually showing up on stages.

As we go to press, the board at Swift Creek Mill was considering a new business plan and Richmond Shakespeare doesn’t have an artistic director. Over at Virginia Rep, the managing director who led the company through a turbulent near-bankruptcy, Klaus Schuller, has returned to Chicago, with NYC-based consultant Lynn Stirrup stepping in on an interim basis.

Even when the news has been good – Katrinah Carol Lewis assuming the artistic director mantle at Firehouse or Zach Owens taking over as board president at Chamberlayne Actors Theatre – there is an ongoing sense of shifting sands in the local scene.

In their annual Fall Arts conversation, theater correspondents Rich Griset and David Timberline look beyond the institutional changes to consider what stage fans can look forward to in the next several months.

David Timberline: Rich, it is sad that we have less to talk about because of not having a season from the Mill, for instance, but the shows we do have on the docket are pretty exciting. The most audacious effort coming up may be Blk Virginia Theatre Alliance taking on “Sunday in the Park with George” in a two-person concert production staged at the Candela Gallery (opening Oct. 8).

Local favorite Rachel Marrs (center) will star in the upcoming regional premiere of “Dog Mom” at Cadence. One of her last appearances on stage was in “Pump Boys and Dinettes” at Swift Creek Mill this past spring (shown with Toby O’Brien at left and Eric Williams). The Mill is one of several theaters working through institutional turmoil this year. Credit: Darryl Morgan Photography.

This Sondheim musical hasn’t been produced in Richmond since a Dogwood Dell staging in 1991 and I’m hopeful a stripped-down version can capture all the magic of this seldom-seen classic.

Rich, I know we could spend this whole article talking about how thrilled you are about “The Play That Goes Wrong” coming to Virginia Rep (opening Sept. 16), but I’m curious if there are other shows that you are genuinely excited to see.

Rich Griset: Har-har. Dave knows that the farce of “The Play That Goes Wrong” isn’t exactly my cup of tea. No, the two shows I’m most excited about are “BLKS” at Richmond Triangle Players (opening Sept. 16) and “Floyd Collins” at the Firehouse Theater (opening Nov. 14).

The former concerns three young, queer and Black best friends living in Brooklyn. Over one unforgettable night and day, the threesome drink a lot, smoke a lot, attempt to have sex, and make increasingly questionable choices. Written by poet and performer Aziza Barnes, “BLKS” is definitely not one for the prudish.

Two of the stars of the upcoming production of “BLKS” at Richmond Triangle Players have co-starred with Jerold Solomon in different productions of the new musical “Gabriel.” Sydnee Graves (right) played Gabriel’s love interest in the original staging at Firehouse (right) while Zakiyyah Jackson took over the role in the latest staging. Photo credits are Aaron Sutton (left) and Bill Sigafoos

The latter is a musical about a real-life cave explorer who gained national renown in 1925 after becoming trapped in what is now Mammoth Cave National Park. The musical features a folk-and-bluegrass-inspired score by Adam Guettel and a book by Tina Lan-dau. In its review of the Lincoln Center Theater’s production last year, The New York Times wrote “‘Floyd Collins’ reaches the sublime, and that is a rare achievement in any work of art.”

So, aside from “Sunday” and “The Play,” what are you most excited about in the coming months?

DT: Rich and I saw “The Play” on Broadway together; one of the few times our opinions differed dramatically. I enjoyed the show and am truly curious to see how Virginia Rep makes it work. Staging the many things that do indeed go wrong will be a challenge and I can’t wait to witness the chaos again.

As detailed elsewhere in this issue, local production of new work has reached a boiling point. Keeping things simmering is Cadence’s “Dog Mom” (opening Sept. 25). This rolling world premiere debuted on several stages across the country this year, meaning that theater insiders have faith in it.

Anyone who has enjoyed seeing Snoopy portrayed in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” knows that humans playing dogs is innately hilarious. “Dog Mom” explores how a stray wins over its reluctant new owner and, with direction by Rick St. Peter and starring local favorites like Rachel Marrs and Grey Garrett, I expect Cadence’s production to be a laugh riot.

We’ll see another beast on stage in Richmond Shakespeare’s “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” (opening Oct. 1). I’m told RichShakes plans an immersive experience with this show so all the goths will be in heaven.

Anything else having you wagging your tail, Rich?

Patrick Page, dubbed “the villain of Broadway,” will bring his one-man exploration of Shakespeare’s villains, “All the Devils Are Here,” to the Modlin Center early in September. Photo courtesy of UR.

RG: On Sept. 3 and 4, the Modlin Center will host Patrick Page in his one-man show “All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain.” Dubbed “the villain of Broadway” by Playbill, Page originated the roles of Hades in “Hadestown,” The Grinch in “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” and Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” In this show, Page will inhabit more than a dozen of the Bard’s most sinister creations.

There’s also Duncan Macmillan’s “People, Places & Things” from VCUarts Theatre, opening Nov. 12. The play centers on Emma, a talented actress who seemingly hasn’t met a drug that she can’t snort, shoot or imbibe. The show follows her journey through the horrors and setbacks of rehab. “When intoxication feels like the only way to survive the modern world,” the play’s website asks, “How can she ever sober up?”

Dave, bring us home. Any other intoxicating options this fall?

DT: With shows like “H*tler’s Tasters” and “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord,” 5th Wall has been wildly successful at pushing the envelope in recent years. That trend will continue with “Wet Brain” (opening Oct. 8). The play about three siblings forced to care for their severely alcoholic father is advertised as “brutally funny.”

As the brutal summer weather moderates into fall, it’s clear that Richmond’s stages will have a bounty of fascinating options for theater fans.