Barksdale Theatre History
The Nation's First Dinner Theatre
Browse our entire performance history by
clicking on the decade or scrolling down.
Past Productions
*Indicates a World Premiere
Additional Shows 2009
Driving Miss Daisy at Willow Lawn
Bootleg Shakespeare - Romeo & Juliet
Henley St Theatre in association with Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn
Black Nativity
Co-produced with African American Repertory Theatre at Gottwald Playhouse at CenterStage
2009 Season at Hanover Tavern
Mona's Arrangements* Book by Bo Wilson, Music by Steve Liebman, Lyrics by Steve Liebman and Bo Wilson
I Ought to Be in Pictures by Neil Simon
Fully Committed by Becky Mode
Souvenir by Stephen Temperley
Bus Stop by William Inge
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 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
2007 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
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
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
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!
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
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.
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.
