FLOYD COLLINS, PRESS, and More Set For Firehouse Theatre Season 33

Firehouse Theatre has announced its 33rd season, under the guidance of its newly appointed Artistic Director. As you have come to expect, Firehouse Theatre's 2026–27 season is filled with emotionally resonant, provocative stories and artfully realized productions; anchored by a commitment to bringing you plays and musicals you have likely never seen before.

As the nation commemorates 250 years, Producing Artistic Director Nathaniel Shaw and incoming Artistic Director Katrinah Carol Lewis have curated a Mainstage Season that reflects on our shared American experience, and asks us what it means to be a citizen of this complicated and ever-evolving nation.

Firehouse's 2026-27 Mainstage season is composed of four compelling, contemporary plays that weave together our nation's history with urgent contemporary themes:

Confederates

by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates

Two Black American women are having parallel experiences of institutional racism, though they live over a century apart. Tony-nominated playwright Dominique Morisseau's exacting new play explores the reins that racial and gender bias still hold over American educational systems today.

Floyd Collins

Book by Tina Landau; Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel, directed by Katrinah Carol Lewis

This haunting musical, featuring a glorious folk and bluegrass-inspired score, tells the transcendent tale of a true American dreamer. In 1925, while chasing fame and fortune by turning a Kentucky cave into a tourist attraction, Floyd Collins himself becomes the attraction when he is trapped 200 feet underground.

What the Constitution Means to Me

by Heidi Schreck, directed by Chelsea Burke

This hilarious, hopeful and achingly human play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans.

Press

by Kristen Adele Calhoun, directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene

Witness the true story of John Mitchell, Jr., the “Fighting Editor” of the groundbreaking Richmond Planet newspaper, as he fights tooth and nail to save an extraordinary man's life. Set in the heart of Jackson Ward, America's original Black Wall Street, PRESS asks: How do we demand justice under impossible circumstances? And when everything is at risk - what do you dare put in print?

PRESS is the culmination of the John Mitchell, Jr. Project - a multi-year research and development collaboration conducted in partnership with the Virginia Museum of History and Culture and the Richmond Planet Foundation. 

The director's chair for the 33rd Mainstage season is occupied by a group of powerhouse women, opening with Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates (Detroit ‘67 & Berta Berta at Firehouse), her first Mainstage production following retirement from her storied career at TheatreVCU. Katrinah Carol Lewis (Water by the Spoonful & Strange Loop at Firehouse) will follow, directing her first Firehouse production following her appointment as Artistic Director. Chelsea Burke (Buried Child & The Great Comet at Firehouse) will return for a third consecutive season. And making her Firehouse debut, Tiffany Nichole Greene (Covenant at Roundabout and Resident Director for Hamilton: An American Musical), will helm the long-awaited world premiere of Press. 

Firehouse continues to fulfill its mission as a hub for the performing arts through its resident company program, which offers unrivaled production and marketing support for several Richmond theatre and dance organizations. 2026-27 resident companies include Cadence (twice), Starr Foster Dance (twice), Radar Dance (twice), the K-Dance YES! Dance Festival, and an additional theatre company to be announced soon.                                                                                                 

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