RedBird Theater Company proudly presents FIRST FLIGHT, an ongoing showcase of new works by North Carolina playwrights.
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THE BRIGHT STAR GARDEN (AND PICKLEBALL) CLUB
by North Carolina playwright Lynden Harris
Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 3:30 PM - Staged Reading
The ArtsCenter, 400 Roberson St., Carrboro, NC
It’s the 100th anniversary of the Bright Star Peanut Festival and Queen’s race. Four friends, members of the Bright Star Garden Club and former candidates in the race, gather for post-pickleball refreshments. As they await the announcement of this year’s contestants, they speculate on who will raise the most money and win the coveted title of Queen Goober Pea. Meanwhile Noemí, the house cleaner, just hopes no one looks too closely at her own family. When the candidate list goes live, it upends everything the friends assumed about the Queen’s race, each other, and the culture they've taken for granted. Who belongs? Who decides? Over the next four weeks — through pickleball, Hot Cheetos, ball gowns, and one extraordinary pot of peanut soup — they discover that Bright Star's heritage is built on arrivals nobody thought to count.
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Director: Tamara Kissane
Cast: Serena Ebhardt, Liza Guzman, Rasool Jahan, Jeri Lynn Schulke, Edith Snow
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GRAY'S LILY
by North Carolina Playwright Chris Canfield
Sunday, July 5, 2026 at 3:30 PM - Staged Reading
The ArtsCenter, 400 Roberson St., Carrboro, NC
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When retired history professor Althus Gray impulsively leaves his Michigan home for his sister's house in small-town Tennessee, his wife Lillian must confront a forty-five-year rivalry she thought she'd won. As Althus reconnects with his Southern roots and a former flame, both he and Lillian face hard truths about identity, belonging, and the compromises required by marriage. GRAY'S LILY is ultimately a love story—one that asks whether scared, imperfect old people deserve love, and whether it's ever too late to finally be yourself.
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Director: Jeri Lynn Schulke
Cast: Scott Campbell, Mary Beth Clark, Kevin Collins, Marcia Edmundson, Jordan Estes, Kate Finlayson, Sarah Froeber, Cooper Thornton​
Coming in September!
Bracing, honest, and often deliciously funny…
—The New York Times.
A vivid poetic expression for all the frustrations of old age…
—Washington Post.
Sublime and penetrating…resonates with a broad range of audiences as it touches on a sobering dilemma faced by families every day.
—Variety.
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​THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN swirls around Alexandra, an 80-year-old artist in a showdown with her family over where she’ll spend her remaining years. In Alexandra’s corner are her wit, her volcanic passion, and the fact that she’s barricaded herself in her Brooklyn brownstone with enough Molotov cocktails to take out the block. But her children have their own secret weapon: estranged son Chris, who returns after 20 years, crawls through Alexandra’s second-floor window and becomes the family’s unlikely mediator. No sooner are the words “Hi, Mom” uttered than the emotional bombs start detonating. THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN is a wickedly funny and wonderfully touching discovery of the fragility and ferocity of life.
This project is supported by the Durham Arts Council’s Annual Arts Fund and the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.
The Regulator Bookshop has partnered with RedBird to offer an exciting selection of titles relevant to our productions. Check out the RedBird Reading List.
RedBird Patrons will receive a 10% discount on book purchases!
"You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times."