Our Town. Written by Thornton Wilder. Directed by Erika Tyner. Showing May 23-June 1, 2025. This classic play is about life, love, and death in the fictional American town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. The play explores the human experience through the story of two neighbors, Emily Webb and George Gibbs, whose childhood friendship develops into romance and marriage.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical. Book by Dennis Kelly. Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin. Based on the book, Matilda by Roald Dahl. Directed by Jenny Martin. Showing June 20-July 6, 2025. Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence, and psychokinetic powers. She’s unloved by her cruel parents but impresses her schoolteacher Miss Honey. During her first term at school, the two forge a bond as Miss Honey begins to recognize and appreciate Matilda’s extraordinary personality. Matilda’s school life isn’t completely smooth sailing, however– the school’s mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, hates children and just loves to punish those who don’t abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts, and could be the school pupils’ saving grace!
Bloodletting in These Hills. Written by Walter Thinnes. Directed by Elizabeth DeVault. Showing August 1-10, 2025. More than 7,500 strikers walked out of more than 90 mines in the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek coal fields of West Virginia during the bloody 1912-1914 labor war. Bloodletting in These Hills is the story of one family caught in the crosshairs of that struggle. The winner of Parkway Playhouse’s 2024 Appalachian Playwriting Festival.
Arsenic and Old Lace. Written by Joseph Kesselring. Directed by Daniel Moore. Showing October 10-19, 2025. Drama critic Mortimer Brewster’s engagement announcement is upended when he discovers a corpse in his elderly aunt’s window seat. Mortimer rushes to tell Abby and Martha before they stumble upon the body themselves, only to learn that the two old women aren’t just aware of the dead man in their parlor, they killed him! Between his aunts’ penchant for poisoning wine, a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, and another brother using plastic surgery to hide from the police—not to mention Mortimer’s own hesitancy about marriage—it’ll be a miracle if Mortimer makes it to his wedding. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic black comedy about the only thing more deadly than poison: family.
Parkway Playhouse will be holding auditions in January for their 2025 Mainstage Season along with other casting opportunities such as their Reading Is Alive! program, their Third Annual Appalachian Playwriting Festival, and an exciting murder mystery dinner. Auditions will take place on January 11th for ages 9-12 and January 18-19th for ages 13 and up. Whether you’re an experienced performer or interested in doing theater for the first time, all are welcome at auditions.
Parkway Playhouse is a professional theater company that has been a cornerstone in the Burnsville, NC community for 77 years. As they enter into their 78th season, however, they need your help. If they meet their $20,000 donation goal this month, an anonymous donor has agreed to match it. Donations made will directly support recouping a loss of income due to Hurricane Helene, making necessary updates to their almost 100-year-old theater, paying artists and staff a fair wage, production costs such as rights, sets, costumes, and props, programming costs for their Junior Program and our Appalachian Playwriting Festival, and contributing to a growing arts community in Burnsville.
For more information about Parkway Playhouse’s 2025 Season, auditions, or how to donate, please visit their website at www.parkwayplayhouse.com.
