Firehouse Theatre To Present the World Premiere of ROMAN À CLEF

The New Theatre at Firehouse have announced the World Premiere of Roman à Clef by Richmond playwright Chandler Hubbard, opening on May 10th, 2024, on the Carol Piersol Stage at the Firehouse Theatre, 1609 West Broad Street. Roman à Clef will have two Pay-What-You-Will preview performances on May 8th and 9th, and will run through May 26th, 2024. Roman à Clef is a product of the TNT New Play Incubator. 

In a quiet, seemingly empty theatre, six actors rehearse a new play about family, fear, and flight. Led by Jack, their visionary director, the cast finds themselves stepping beyond the boundaries of the show he meant to write. When a stranger joins the group demanding answers, the line between fiction and reality fades, twisting meaning and identity irreversibly. What begins as a play-within-a-play devolves into a play-without-a-play, until all that's left is the truth. If we can even call it that. 

Playwright Chandler Hubbard is an actor and playwright in Richmond, Virginia. Written works include Animal Control (2019 Martha Hill Newell Playwright's Fund, RTCC Best Original Work nomination, 2020 American Theatre Critics' Association/Steinberg New Play Award Citation) (Firehouse Theatre; American Lives Theatre); Molly House (first honoree of the John Knapp and Tim Gillham New Works Program) (Richmond Triangle Players); The Minotaur (Rumput/Firehouse); Man: The Live Podcast (Firehouse/Jackleg Media); and readings of Telling of the Bees (5th Wall Theatre; Barter Theatre); Akeldama (IATI); Small Quiet Good (Dragonfly Theatre Company; Clamour Theatre Company); Sunday the Thirtieth 3am Raining Slightly Drunk (Wild Imaginings); and Children of the Empire (Fulton Theatre). His screenplay Shanidar (Remember Tommy Productions, Mudroom Films, SideXSide Productions) is currently in post-production. (www.shanidarfilm.com) Chandler is a graduate of the University of Virginia (2012) and a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. 

Sharon Ott will direct. Ott is an Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and served as Chair of the Department of Theatre from 2017 until August 2021. Under her

leadership as Chair, the Department received NAST accreditation for a new Concentration in Musical Theatre, as well as introducing Minors in Theatre, Musical Theatre, and (with the participation of several other departments in the SOTA) an interdisciplinary Minor in Sound Design. She currently serves as the Artistic Director for the department. Before coming to VCU, she was a Professor in the Performing Arts Department at Savannah College of Art and Design and was also the Artistic Director for that department. She led two major west coast theatres for 21 years before shifting her focus to academia, as Artistic Director of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Seattle Repertory Theatre. 

The design team includes scenic designer Chris Raintree and lighting designer BJ Wilkinson. Kyle Epps joins the creative team on sound design, and Cora Delbridge will design costumes. Producing Artistic Director Nathaniel Shaw will serve as movement director, and Stephanie “Tippi” Hart is intimacy and fight director. Molly Marsh is assistant director, and Emily Vial will stage manage. 

The cast stars Andrew Bryce, making his Firehouse debut as Jack. The cast also includes Reese Bucher, Lukas D'errico, Alex Harris, Stephanie “Tippi” Hart, Keaton Hillman, Kelly Kennedy, Donna Marie Miller, Landon Nagel, and Tatjana Shields. 

Tickets

Tickets can be purchased at the Box Office (804) 355-2001 and are available online at www.firehousetheatre.org. Tickets are $35. Discounted tickets available to Firehouse members. $15 tickets available for college and high school students. Pay-What-You-Will performances will be offered for both preview performances, as well as all matinees (excluding closing, May 26th). 

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