16 Tampa Bay theater productions to check out this spring

American theaters, including some in Tampa Bay, are facing unprecedented challenges.  but doesn’t mean they’re not pressing on. Across the Bay area, companies are staging tried and true familiar works, plus hosting domestic and world premieres all while staying true to their individual missions. Here are 16 productions happening this spring to get you inside the theater (and outside to enjoy some acting, too).

Twelfth Night Jobsite does what Jobsite does best: Shakespeare. Specifically, a Shakespearean love triangle that features a majority of plain English, not Shakespeak. It’s all soundtracked by company wunderkind Jeremy Douglass and revolves around a shipwreck which a young Viola believes drowned her brother. Jobsite staged “Twelfth Night” a decade ago, but promises an all-new production here.
Through Feb. 11. $20 & up. Jaeb Theater at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N Macinnes Pl., Tampa

The Chinese Lady Afong Moy was a real person and possibly the first Chinese woman in the U.S. The New York Times said Lloyd Suh’s play about her puts the “lens on contemporary racism,” while American Stage says its production is told with both winking humor and forthrightness. Wednesdays-Sundays, Jan. 31-Feb. 25. $28 & up. American Stage Theatre Company. 162 3rd St. N, St. Petersburg

Whiskey & Soda
What happens when Margaret Thatcher and John Lennon meet at a dinner party? Find out when The Off Central Players stage the U.S. premiere of Ben Randall’s production, which has worked well inside smaller theaters overseas. Set in Washington D.C. circa 1979, the work sees the prime minister offer the Beatle a deal that could change his life. “I wrote this play off the back of a night out! My friends and I were playing a game, drunkenly trying to work out who would be the worst two characters from history to be stuck in a lift together,” Randall told U.K. press. Feb. 1-11. $15 & up. The Off-Central Players, 2260 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg
Straight White Men Let’s get it out of the way: this one at Tampa Repertory Theatre was not written by a straight white man. Young Jean Lee—the first female Asian American playwright to be produced on Broadway—wrote her 2014 satire based on minority usage of the phrase “straight white men” as a synonym for privilege in America. A certain nastiness marked early performances of this work, which got cleaned up on Broadway. We’ll see what Tampa Rep does with it. Feb. 2-18. $12-$60. Theatre Centre at University of South Florida (TAR 120), 3837 USF Holly Dr., Tampa.

The Diaries of Adam and Eve Boyd Hill Nature Preserve becomes the Garden of Eden in Mark Twain’s comedic exploration of relationships between men and women. Part of American Stage’s “Beyond the Stage” initiative. Feb. 2-18. $38. Boyd Hill Nature Preserve,1101 Country Club Way S, St. Petersburg

I Am My Own Wife Inspired by interviews with Charlotte von Mahlsdorf—and the letters he exchanged with her until she died in 2002—Doug Wright’s one-person play about a transgender woman living in Nazi Germany has won just about every award there is, including a Pulitzer and a Tony. Feb. 9-25. $45. Stageworks Theatre, 1120 E Kennedy Blvd. Suite No. 151, Tampa

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater freeFall stages Kurt Vonnegut’s witty satire about kindness ( and wealth in the upper classes). The pretty much plot-less book is a mess in the best way, complete with poetic flourish and squiggles, and it should come to life magnificently in the hands of freeFall’s Artistic Director Eric Davis. Feb. 9-Mar. 10. $25-45. freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg

Syd While some theater companies’ audiences demand more familiar, escapist offerings, groups like Lab Theater Project continue to present new work like this world premiere from Craig Houk whose two-act drama tells the story of Sydney Trahan (Mandy Keen), who in 1973 was taken into custody and charged with lewd and lascivious conduct for dancing together at Brady’s, a notorious lesbian bar in the French Quarter. Feb. 22-March 10. $31. Lab Theater Project. 812 E Henderson Ave., Ybor City

Fully Committed “The Menu” was a nice snack for anyone remotely familiar with high-end dining, and Becky Mode’s “Fully Committed” comes with a somewhat similar flavor profile. The one-act play includes more than 40 characters, and it’ll be interesting to see how Off-Central updates the nearly 25-year-old work. Feb. 29-March 10. $20 & up. The Off-Central Players, 2260 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg

Powerstories: The Voices of Women Theatre Festival Powerstories once again stages a hybrid festival with self-produced short plays and 60 minute shows which will open live in the theater and then move to online. The 2024 Voices of Women slate includes 12 original local, national and international works from both novice and veteran women playwrights including Krystle Dellihue (“Too Woke To Book”), Alli Hartley-Kong (“The Wives; A Post-Roe American Abortion Odyssey”), Kathleen Maule Holen (“The First Step”) and more. March 21-24 (online March 25-30) $15 & up. Theatre Centre at University of South Florida (TAR 120), 3837 USF Holly Dr., Tampa

The Beauty Queen of Leenane
“The Beauty Queen of Leenane ' was written by British-Irish playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh, the pen behind award-winning 2022 film “The Banshees of Inisherin,” who is also known for absurdist black humor. “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” a modern classic of Irish theater arriving just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, relays the tale of a mother-daughter relationship so horrific it’s funny. Mar. 13-Apr. 7. $40 & up. Jaeb Theater at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N Macinnes Pl., Tampa

The Immigrant In line with Stageworks’ mission to spotlight marginalized communities, Mark Harelik’s timeless musical tackles immigration and assimilation via the true story of a young Russian-Jewish couple who immigrated to a small Texas town in the early-1900s. At a time when Jews across the U.S. are caught between their generational trauma and the war waged by Benjamin Netanyahu, this work about how we are all far more alike than we are dissimilar might hit harder than anything else showing this spring. March 15-31. $45. Stageworks Theatre, 1120 E Kennedy Blvd. Suite No. 151, Tampa

Beauty and the Beast American Stage brings Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to Demens Landing Park for its annual American Stage in the Park event. There are purists who think theater is meant to be inside, but this is a chance to sing along and be outside once more before the heat kicks in. Apr. 3-May 5. $28 & up. Demens Landing Park, Bayshore Drive & Second Avenue S, St. Petersburg

Nollywood Dreams The recent unveiling of Oscar nominations reminded us how silly Hollywood is, and this work from Jocelyn Bioh helps throw a little more shade on tinseltown. Two sisters dream of finding success in the Nigerian film industry in this heartfelt romantic comedy set in the early-’90s when Nollywood was still cutting its teeth. April 12-May 12. $25-$45. freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg

Our Town Downtown Tampa turns into Grover’s Corners when Stageworks performs a multicultural, multilingual (with supertitles) version of Thornton Wilder’s iconic, 1930s Pulitzer-winning three-act play about life in small-town America. April 26-May 12. $45. Stageworks Theatre, 1120 E Kennedy Blvd. Suite No. 151, Tampa

Scenes from the Odyssey Homer’s “Odyssey” is way too long, so Hillsborough Community College theater students will perform Mary Zimmerman’s abridged version of the Greek epic poem. April 4-6. $23. Mainstage Theatre at Hillsborough Community College, 1411 E 11th Ave., Ybor City

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