Second Stage Series Will Come to Burning Coal Theatre
The Raleigh series features SHADOWS IN RED LIGHT, DANGER!, and DR. RIDE'S AMERICAN BEACH HOUSE in repertory.
Burning Coal Theatre Company will host Wait Til You See This! 2026, its Second Stage Series of collaborations with emerging artists. This year's productions include Shadows in Red Light (written by Roné Roux Sargent), Danger! (written by and performed by Lucius Robinson), and Dr. Ride's American Beach House (written by Liza Birkenmeier and co-produced with Brave New Classics). The three plays will run in repertory, June 11 – 28, 2026, at Burning Coal Theatre, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC 27604.
Shadows in Red Light by Roné Roux Sargent will perform Saturday, June 13th and Sunday, June 28th, at 2:00 pm; Sunday, June 14th and Sunday, June 21 at 5:00 pm; Thursday, June 18th and Friday, June 26th at 7:30 pm at Burning Coal Theatre. Tickets are $10 and available for purchase at https://burningcoal.org/second-stage/.
Danger! by Lucius Robinson will perform Saturday, June 20th and Saturday, June 27th at 2:00 pm; Thursday, June 11th, Friday, June 12th, Friday, June 19th, and Saturday, June 27th at 7:30 pm at Burning Coal Theatre. Tickets are $10 and available for purchase at https://burningcoal.org/second-stage/.
Dr. Ride's American Beach House by Liza Birkenmeier and co-produced with Brave New Classics performs Saturday, June 13th, Saturday, June 20th, and Thursday, June 25th at 7:30 pm; Sunday, June 14th and Sunday, June 21st at 2:00 pm; Sunday, June 28th at 5:00 pm at Burning Coal Theatre. Tickets are $25 and available for purchase at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/bravenewclassicstheatre/dr-ride.
ABOUT SHADOWS IN RED LIGHT, BY RONÉ ROUX SARGENT
A concert version of a new musical set during the AIDS epidemic in New York City.
A single mother thinks she is placing her baby in foster care. Years later, as Angeline faces adversity, she longs to find her mother she believes abandoned her. Themes of hope, sacrifice, and belonging shape this story about love in its many forms.
Jerome Davis (Director). For Burning Coal Theatre: My Fair Lady, Merrily We Roll Along, Copenhagen, A Little Night Music, Arcadia, Evita, Ashe in Johannesburg, The Weir (twice), Rat in the Skull, Pentecost, Winding the Ball, Steward of Christendom, Night & Day, Company, Road to Mecca (twice), Juno & the Paycock, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Taming of the Shrew, Inherit the Wind, Hamlet, Hysteria, Prisoner's Dilemma, 1960, The Seafarer, Shape of the Table, Enron, Jude the Obscure Parts 1 & 2, Shining City, The Heretic, Iron Curtain Trilogy (Raleigh and London), Sunday in the Park with George, Spoonface Steinberg, Written on the Heart, Dark Vanilla Jungle (London), Iphigenia in Splott (Raleigh and DC). Acting: Love's Labours Lost, Mound Builders, St. Nicholas, Skylight, and Talley's Folly (Raleigh and London). Also, Skylight in Orlando and King Lear (Lear/Wilmington). Other: See How They Run (Southern Pines), Twelfth Night in Apex, and Turn of the Screw for NC Opera. Jerry worked with or studied with Uta Hagen, Adrian Hall, Richard Jenkins, Hope Davis, Horton Foote, Denis O'Hare, Nikos Psacharapolous, Julie Bovasso, Steve Harris, Ralph Waite, Oliver Platt, Ben Gazzarra and Ellen Burstyn at Trinity Rep (Providence), People's Light & Theatre (Philadelphia), NJ Shakespeare, SoHo Rep, Barrow Group, Columbia University, Phoenix Theatre (SUNY/Purchase). This is his 29th year running Burning Coal, which he and his wife, Simmie Kastner, founded in 1995. He received the 2019 Raleigh Medal of Arts.
Roné Roux Sargent is a North Carolina-based composer, playwright, and performer. She holds a master's degree in music (Stellenbosch University) and has a passion for telling stories through her music, which has been performed in South Africa, Germany, and the United States. She wrote Shadows in Red Light between 2010-2013 and produced/directed its South African premiere in 2017. Since then, she has produced/directed six GALAxy Concerts, one-person shows (After “The End”; A Taste of Song), and music concerts (Skemerklanke; Music at Home). Now, she is beyond thrilled for the US premiere of Shadows of Red Light, an absolute dream come true.
ABOUT DANGER! BY Lucius Robinson
A wild solo show about a man who is convinced his neighbor's son is a changeling, and the lengths he will go to prove this monster lives among us. Originally seen at the Charm City Fringe Festival, as well as festivals in California, Kansas City and Rhode Island, Raleigh native Lucius Robinson returns for a third summer with Burning Coal.
Lucius Robinson (Mitch) is a Princess Grace award-winning actor, director, writer, and teacher who received his MFA from the Dell'arte International School of Physical Theatre. He premiered DANGER! at the 2017 Charm City Fringe Festival, where it won Best of Fringe, and it subsequently played at the Mad River Festival in Blue Lake, CA, the Kansas City Fringe Festival, and the Providence Fringe Festival. As a deviser, he has created and performed in A House (After Ibsen's Ghosts); Forgive Us, Gustavito; Irvinville; A Ballade of Panic; Hell To Pay; Fuzzy Goo's Guide To The Earth, and Ruzzante Comes Home From The Wars. He fondly remembers Manbites Dog, Raleigh Ensemble Players, DeepDish, and Common Ground theaters and the amazing impact they had on him growing up in this area. For Burning Coal: Hamlet, The Lovesong of J. Robert Oppenheimer, The Prisoner's Dilemma, Twelfth Night, Henry V (On Trapeze), The Diary of Anne Frank, Charles III, The Weir, Howie The Rookie. For Fred and John.
ABOUT DR. RIDE'S AMERICAN BEACH HOUSE BY Liza Birkenmeier
It's 1983, the evening before Dr. Sally Ride's historic space flight. Hundreds of miles from the launch, a group of women with passionate opinions and no opportunities sit on a sweltering St. Louis rooftop watching life pass them by. Their uncharted desires bump up against American norms of sex and power in this intimate snapshot of queer anti-heroines.
“Luscious. Funny. Erotic. The play itself just keeps soaring up and up and up.” - Vulture
Brave New Classics was founded in 2020 by Noelle Azarelo, an actor, director, costumer, and overall Triangle stage veteran. Precluded by the pandemic from traditional stage productions, Noelle and an assemblage of Triangle talent launched multiple virtual plays – reimagined classics by playwrights such as Mae West, Alice Gerstenberg, and Rachel Crothers. With a focus on women's and queer voices, productions were performed and streamed live over Twitch or pre-recorded and made available via YouTube, where they can still be viewed today. Shows included Rachel Crothers' HE & SHE (Chatham Life & Style Outstanding Virtual Production, Outstanding Ensemble Performance – 2020), Mae West's SEX, and THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY. In 2024, Brave New Classics launched their first traditionally staged show – HITCHCOCK BLONDE – to critical acclaim at the Durham Arts Center. Throughout 2025, the company produced several Shakespeare Roulette events, where actors are assigned roles 5 minutes before curtain - at various Triangle locations. Now, they look forward to partnering with Burning Coal Theatre to stage Liza Birkenmeier's brilliant new play, DR RIDE'S AMERICAN BEACH HOUSE, in June 2026.
Noelle Azurlo (Producer) is a Durham-based director, actor, and producer and is the founder of Brave New Classics. For BNC: Hitchcock Blonde (The Blonde), The Verge (Claire Archer), The Rover (Director), He & She (Director). For Burning Coal: Lipstick Traces, Einstein's Dreams, and an assemblage of KidsWrites, Oakwoods, staged readings, and school tours over the years.
Laurel Ullman (Producer), based in Raleigh, is a performer, director, and producer who is delighted to be working at Burning Coal once again. As a performer: for Burning Coal: The Rainmaker, Haughey/Gregory, Silent Sky, Galileo. For Burning Coal 2nd Stage: Or; Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake), Closer. Other Triangle appearances include POTUS with Vixen Theatre, Stop Kiss and 12 Angry Jurors with Justice Theatre Project; Small and Tired and Contractions with Common Wealth Endeavours; The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls with Manbites Dog; and Cloud 9 with Tiny Engine, among others. Laurel received her BA in theatre from UNC-Greensboro.
Ruth Berry (Director) is a Durham-based Director, Stage Manager, and Actor who is excited to work with Burning Coal for the first time. With Brave New Classics — Hitchcock Blonde and Overtones (Director), as well as The Half Life of Marie Curie (Assistant Director) and Saint Lucy's (Assistant Director & Stage Manager). With Justice Theatre Project — Stop Kiss (Assistant Director) and Thanksgiving Play (Assistant Stage Manager). With Women's Theatre Festival — Bureaucrazy, Headline for a Hero, Gel Us, and Escape Velocity (Director), as well as Dance Nation (Stage Manager). As an actor, Ruth was Enid in Legally Blonde (Cary Players), Fairy Helper in Cinderella (Raleigh Little Theatre), and Trinculo in The Tempest (HiSTORY Stage). Ruth received her BA in Theatre from Campbell University and her Master's of Library Science from ECU.
Videos
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Laughs in Spanish Bulldog Ensemble Theater (5/28-6/07) |
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Daniel Tosh Thomas Wolfe Auditorium at Harrah's Cherokee Center (10/18-10/18) |
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The Merry Wives of Windsor Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre (7/23-7/25) |
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The Phantom of the Opera DPAC (5/26-6/06) |
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The Notebook – The Musical Durham Performing Arts Center (7/14-7/14) |
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1776 Temple Theatre (9/10-9/27) |
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War Bonds Temple Theatre (2/04-2/07) |
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LOVE/SICK Splintered Stage (7/30-8/02) |
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Hamilton (Angelica Company) Durham Performing Arts Center (5/20-6/14) |
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Take My Death Away (A Halloween Musical) Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre (10/08-10/10) |
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