Each year, our Mainstage Season offers audiences the opportunity to experience new work by writers whose stories could only be told onstage. These productions are thoughtful, relevant, unfiltered, and boundary-pushing excursions that reflect world we live in and help us see it in new, surprising ways. Since our establishment in 2009, we have produced a wide variety of styles and genres.

2023 MAINSTAGE SEASON

HappyLand Trailer

The Reviews are In

HAPPYLAND
By Brayden Dickerson & Zach Knox
Directed by Jason Phillips

Full of toe-tappin’ tunes and fantastic adventure, this rock opera tells the tale of a delivery person who doesn’t quite fit into the titular town of HappyLand. Forced to make one last delivery before the vacation they have been dreaming of, our hero embarks on an epic journey to SadLand, falls in love, and maybe even saves the world. Featuring live music by one of Asheville’s most fun-loving local bands, Smooth Goose.

This show features two casts:

CAST A (performances on 2/10, 2/12, 2/16, 2/18, 2/24, 2/26, 3/3)
Protagonist - Dwight Chiles
Boss - Paula O'Brien
Rhonda - Elise Harvey
Knife Guy - Evan Eckstrom
Alien - Bill Chameides
Ensemble - Tiffanie Boone, Gina McDaniel, Morgan Miller, Sharvis Smith, Quinn Terry

CAST B (performances on 2/11, 2/17, 2/19, 2/23, 2/25, 3/2, 3/4)
Protagonist - Morgan Miller
Boss - Sharvis Smith
Rhonda - Quinn Terry
Knife Guy - Evan Eckstrom
Alien - Bill Chameides
Ensemble - Tiffanie Boone, Dwight Chiles, Elise Harvey, Gina McDaniel, Paula O'Brien

February 10 - March 4, 2023
Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 4pm


FISH
By Cyndi Williams
Directed by Ashleigh Goff

When two characters connect unexpectedly in a lonely bar, they wind up playing a dangerous game. Who will survive, and how can they forgive themselves in the process?  Shifting timelines and unearthing skeletons, Fish is a fever dream twisting through memory, fantasy and the present.

*Content Warning: language; violence; drug use; child abuse and neglect; self-harm and suicidal ideation.

April 14 - 29, 2023
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 4pm


Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf Trailer

DA CLASSROOM AIN’T ENUF
By Charles Payne
Directed by Katie Jones

Da Classroom Ain't Enuf is an exploration of the intersection of Black and Brown communities, particularly in and around the American educational system. The play features an ensemble of four actors who play teachers, students, and their families, and is a mix of poetry, prose, and music, with original tracks by composer Richard Jones. This choreopoem is inspired by the work of Ntozake Shange.

*Content notification: language; violence; descriptions of racially motivated profiling, violence and sexual assault; use of a stage gun.

June 2 - 17, 2023
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 4pm


THE MAGNETIC THEATRE 2023 ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL

Our Fourth Annual Festival of Short Plays

The Magnetic Theatre's One Act Play Festival returns for its fourth year of short plays. Featuring a variety of stories, emerging and seasoned playwrights, local directors, and incredible performers, there's sure to be something for everyone!
August 4-13, 2023

Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm
Saturdays & Sundays at 4pm

See below for the schedule of shows. 

Schedule A (GET SHOW A TICKETS HERE): 8/4 at 7:30pm, 8/5 at 4pm, 8/10 at 7:30pm, 8/12 at 7:30pm

Schedule B: 8/5 at 7:30pm, 8/6 at 4pm, 8/11 at 7:30pm, 8/12 at 4pm (GET SHOW B TICKETS HERE)

Best of the Best: 8/13 at 4pm (GET BEST OF TICKETS HERE)


The Splatter Play trailer

THE SPLATTER PLAY
By Abby Auman
Directed by Jessica Johnson

It’s the day of the open house for Tina’s childhood home, which also happens to be her deceased mother’s evil laboratory. Determined to turn the terrors of the lab into selling points, Tina and her optimistic realtor parade a cast of unsavory potential buyers through the home, tormented all the while by the resident creepies and crawlies who aren’t quite as ready to move on as Tina would hope. *Note: there will be blood, so much blood.

**Content notification: language; violence; blood; gore; strobe light effects; audience-immersive scenes that may include audience members being splattered with stage blood and gore.

October 6 - 28, 2023
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 4pm


NEW QUEER’S EVE
Developed by Abby Auman, Eli Hamilton, Jason Phillips, and Mickey Poandl
Directed by Dwight Chiles

Maybe it’s much too early in the game, but I thought I’d ask you just the same, what are you doing New Year’s? Join us for a look at this holiday through a new lens. New Queer’s Eve takes place in one location over multiple New Year’s Eve celebrations and provides a glimpse into the LGBTQIA+ experience through time. Through interconnected stories told by a collaboration of queer writers, New Queer’s Eve invites audiences to share in the joys and struggles of queer life through the decades.

*Content notification: language; sensitive subject matter; talk of death; brief burlesque scene (no full nudity.)

December 1 - 16, 2023
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 4pm