Barksdale Theatre in Richmond Va - Our History - Over 50 Years of Performances


	Our History Browse our entire performance history by clicking on the decade or scrolling down. Click on a blue show title for photos. 2000 \| 1990's \| 1980's \| 1970's \| 1960's \| 1950's You can also read a history of our theatre. Indicates a World Premiere. 2008 - 2009* Signature Season The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl This Wonderful Life by Steve Murray, Conceived by Mark Setlock Children of a Lesser God by Mark Medoff Well by Lisa Kron Thoroughly Modern Millie (Empire) Book by Richard Henry Morris; Music by Jeanine Tesori; New Lyrics by Dick Scanlan 2008 Country Playhouse Season at Hanover Tavern Greater Tuna by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry Sanders Family Christmas Book by Connie Ray; Conceived by Alan Bailey; Musical Arrangements by John Foley and Gary Fagin 2007 - 2008 Signature Season The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson Doubt by John Patrick Shanley The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane Guys and Dolls (Empire) by Frank Loesser 2008 Country Playhouse Season at Hanover Tavern Smoke on the Mountain by Constance Ray The Odd Couple by Neil Simon Deathtrap by Ira Levin Swingtime Canteen by Linda Thorsen Bond, William Repicci and Charles Busch 2006 - 2007 AT WILLOW LAWN The Constant Wife by Somerset Maugham Mame - Book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman Brooklyn Boy by Donald Margulies Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage Into the Woods - Book by James Lapine, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim AT HANOVER TAVERN The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie Over the River and Through the Woods by Joe DiPietro Smoke on the Mountain by Alan Bailey and Constance Ray The Odd Couple by Neil Simon 2005 - 2006 AT WILLOW LAWN: The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey Scapino! Adapted by Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale The Lark by Jean Anouilh; Adapted by Lillian Hellman The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gein The Full Monty book by Terrance McNally; Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek AT HANOVER TAVERN: Barefoot in the Park by Neil simon No Sex Please, We're British by Anthony Marriott and Alistair Foot 2004 - 2005 Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand Where's Charley Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser; Book by George Abbott; Based on the play Charley's Aunt written in 1898 by Brandon Thomas The Man Who Came to Dinner by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman Crowns by Regina Taylor Melissa Arctic by Craig Wright Anything Goes Music & lyrics by Cole Porter; book by Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse 2003 - 2004 To Kill a Mockingbird Adapted by Christopher Sergel James Joyce's The Dead Book by Richard Nelson, Music by Shaun Davey Light Up the Sky by Moss Hart Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson 2002 - 2003 The Crucible by Arthur Miller Proof By David Auburn The 1940's Radio Hour by Walton Jones The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman The Cocktail Hour by A.R. Gurney Songs from Bedlam by Douglas Jones* Picasso's Women by Melanie Richards and Kay Weinstein Gary* Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin and Herbert &Dorothy Fields 2001 - 2002 Fully Committed By Becky Mode The Little Foxes By Lillian Hellman Italian American Reconciliation By John Patrick Shanley War Story By Bo Wilson * Collected Stories by Donald Margulies The Exact Center of the Universe By Joan Vail Thorne Olympus on My Mind Book and Lyrics by Barry Harman, Music by Grant Sturiale 2001 Misfits * Coming of the Hurricane The Taming of the Shrew They're Playing Our Song 2000 The Queen of Bingo Side Man Full Gallop Sweet Charity Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde Carousel Return to the Top of Page 1999 The Old Settler Three Tall Women Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Golf With Alan Shepard Violet Ella and Her Fella, Frank * 1998 From the Mississippi Delta The Young Man From Atlanta The Rocky Horror Show Inherit The Wind She Loves Me The Sisters Rosensweig 1997 The House of Blue Leaves The Complete Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) Molly Sweeney Blues in the Night Love! Valour! Compassion! The Woman in Black Red, Hot and Cole 1996 The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe The Trip to Bountiful Oil City Symphony Das Barbecu The Taffetas 1995 Born Yesterday The Glass Menagerie Weird Romance Prelude to a Kiss Nunsense (starring Pat Carroll) Once on this Island 1994 Our Town Falsettos Love Letters A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine Zelda, the Last Flapper Talley's Folly The Turn of the Screw * The World Goes 'Round 1993 Our 40th Year Gala Death of a Salesman By Strouse Oh, Dad, Poor Dad... Bojangles * The Voice of the Turtle Godspell 1992 Tender Lies American Beauty The Road to Mecca Lucky Stiff Twelfth Night Social Security 1991 Home Games The Loves of Cass McGuire (starring Pat Carroll) The Lady's Not for Burning Oil City Symphony The Zulu and the Zayda Oh! Coward! 1990 Nunsense (starring Pat Carroll) Land of Fire The Cocktail Hour Earnest in Love On the Verge Stepping Out Return to the Top of Page 1989 Wenceslas Square Nunsense (starring Pat Carroll) One West Main * The Mikado You Never Can Tell The Nerd 1988 Nunsense (starring Pat Carroll) Artichoke Hot Grog Painting Churches A Child's Christmas in Wales 1987 Tallulah - A Memory (Starring Eugenia Rawls) Vanities The Amorous Flea The Butterfingers Angel etc. etc. 1986 Morning's at Seven The Circle Brighton Beach Memoirs Taking My Turn 1984-1985 Present Laughter FoxFire Talking With...(Co-produced with Actors Studio) Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Here's a How-De-Do 1983 George Washington Slept Here A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking Patience What the Butler Saw The Middle Ages 1982 Much Ado About Nothing The Elephant Man The Pirates of Penzance Gertrude Stein III (starring Pat Carroll) Sweeney Todd 1981 Da Any Number Can Die H.M.S. Pinafore Bad Day at Black Rock * Blithe Spirit 1980 A Life in the Theatre Light Up the Sky Murder at the Howard Johnson's The Mikado Chapter Two The 1940's Radio Hour Return to the Top of Page 1979 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest The Good Doctor The Man Who Came to Dinner Old Wives' Tale * The Importance of Being Earnest 1978 The River Niger Equus The Little Hut Red, Hot and Cole * Man of La Mancha Diamond Studs 1977 Mark Twain Visit to a Small Planet Red, Hot and Cole * The Royal Family 1976 Ladies in Retirement UTBU My Fat Friend I Never Sang For My Father Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead How the Other Half Loves You Can't Take It With You 1975 That Championship Season Godspell Catch Me If You Can Ah! Wilderness 1974 The Front Page Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? Dames at Sea You Can't Take It With You Long Day's Journey Into Night A Flea in Her Ear 1973 To Be Young, Gifted and Black The Odd Couple Dracula Three Bags Full The Patriots Barefoot in the Park 1972 Goodbye Charlie Never Too Late Butterflies are Free George Washington Slept Here Gypsy 1971 The Boys in the Band Three Men on a Horse Plaza Suite The Sound of Music Old Wives' Tale * You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown 1970 The Hostage Tons of Money Man of La Mancha Money I Do! I Do! Return to the Top of Page 1969 The Lion in Winter Philadelphia Annie Get Your Gun Here I Come! The Fantasticks Cactus Flower The Absence of a Cello Annie Get Your Gun 1968 Generation Theatre Wagon (Original Comedy, Guest Company) 100 and Some (100th production) Rattle of a Simple Man Oliver! The Impossible Years Irma La Douce 1967 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? My Three Angels The Night of the Iguana The Champagne Complex Barefoot in the Park 1966 Never Too Late Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Little Mary Sunshine The Typists and the Tiger Boeing-Boeing Any Wednesday Stop the World-I Want to Get Off Any Wednesday 1965 Sunday in New York Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad Take Her, She's Mine Come Back, Little Sheba Lullaby O'Mistress Mine Tunnel of Love + Marriage-Go-round + Never Too Late Mary, Mary +Indicates plays that alternate between the Tavern and Barksdale at Strawberry Banks, a summer theatre in Hampton, Virginia. 1964 The Moon is Blue Gideon Bell, Book and Candle The Little Hut The Boy Friend 1963 Critic's Choice Twelve Angry Men The Curious Savage Janus The Fantasticks A Shot in the Dark 1962 The Solid Gold Cadillac Leave it to Jane J.B. Fallen Angels Once Upon a Mattress 1961 Drink to Me Only The Rose Tattoo Two for the See-Saw John Brown's Body Born Yesterday Mister Roberts 1960 The Crucible Romanoff and Juliet Venus Observed A Streetcar Named Desire Clutterbuck Private Lives Picnic Abie's Irish Rose Return to the Top of Page 1959 O'Mistress Mine Kind Lady For Love or Money The Crucible Duet for Two Hands Clutterbuck The Little Hut Where's Charley? 1958 The Little Hut Time of the Cuckoo Bus Stop Voice of the Turtle O'Mistress Mine The Matchmaker The Fourposter Laura Arsenic and Old Lace 1957 The Little Hut Portrait in Black White Sheep in the Family The Lady's Not for Burning To Rise One Day * (co-produced with the Hanover County Jamestown Festival Committee) Dirty Work at the Crossroads Amphitryon 38 Dangerous Corner The Moon is Blue 1956 Ladies in Retirement Without Love Antigone The Rainmaker Our Town Bell, Book and Candle Biography Don Juan in Hell Present Laughter Silas the Chore Boy 1955 High Tea * Antigone Hay Fever Tons of Money No Time for Comedy Gold in the Hills 1954 Gold in the Hills 1953 One-Acts and Readings for Private Groups Indicates a World Premiere. Return to the Top of Page* Barksdale's History On August 1, 1953, six actors, two children, a dog and two pigs moved into a historic ruin called Hanover Tavern. The transplanted New Yorkers founded Central Virginia’s first professional theatre, and named the company in memory of a deceased college friend, Barbara Barksdale. When they learned that their new neighbors looked forward to eating on evenings out, they combined favorite recipes and created the nation’s first dinner theatre. They lived upstairs, performed downstairs, and served hearty meals in the historic rooms that fell in between. During the first six years, four of the original founders moved on, leaving Pete Kilgore, Muriel McAuley and newcomer (and newly-wed) Nancy Kilgore firmly in charge. In the seasons that followed, Pete, Muriel and Nancy produced Greater Richmond’s first professional productions of plays by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill, George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, Thornton Wilder, William Inge and Edward Albee. They also became dynamic civic leaders. In defiance of Jim Crow laws, Barksdale was Virginia’s first performing arts organization to open its doors to integrated audiences. Barksdale launched Greater Richmond’s first “studio season,” converting an old country store into an experimental theatre. Barksdale conducted Virginia’s first professional theatre classes for children. In 1973, Barksdale produced Virginia’s first professional play based on African American experience, Lorraine Hansberry’s To Be Young, Gifted and Black. In support of their theatrical mission, Pete, Muriel and Nancy continued the endless task of restoring the Tavern. In 1990, the Tavern was sold to the Hanover Tavern Foundation. In 1993, Pete, Muriel and Nancy retired after 40 years of exemplary service. John Glenn was named Artistic Director. In 1996, to accommodate a full restoration of its beloved home, Barksdale left the Tavern for new facilities at Willow Lawn. In 1997, John Glenn left to pursue other opportunities, and Randy Strawderman was hired to replace him. In 2001, leadership was transferred to Bruce Miller and Phil Whiteway, Artistic Director and Managing Director, respectively. Under their leadership, the company’s reputation for artistic excellence has continued to grow. Subscriptions have increased by 700%, and after a ten-year separation, Barksdale returned theatrical programming to Hanover Tavern in January 2006, initiating a four-play Country Playhouse Season designed to complement its five-play Signature Season at Willow Lawn.. Barksdale is now recognized nationally as Central Virginia’s leading professional theatre. The nonprofit company continues to grow, challenge and share as it seeks to build upon an unparalleled legacy of artistic excellence and community service. Return to the Top of Page Willow Lawn Season Hanover Tavern Season Other Events Our Company Get Involved Summer Camp Auditions Theatre IV

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