- January 19, 2026
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Robert Altman once said that every director is a voyeur. They're like a Peeping Tom! They look through doors and windows and spy on characters who don’t know they’re being watched. Altman was talking about films, but his words apply to live theater — especially on our local stages.
This season’s plays snoop on many weird scenes. My top choices include: a tragic jazz hero; a confidential therapy session; a 17th-century witchcraft trial; NASA’s first-generation rocket scientists; a persecuted shtetl in Russia; and a pack of oversexed humans and sprites romping around in a magical forest.
In real life, such intrusive violations of privacy might get you canceled, shot, arrested or deported. But this isn’t real life. It’s theater — and it’s OK to watch.
Through Feb. 8, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave. $20-$50. Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.
Dominique Morisseau’s play is a jazzy character study. It unfolds in Detroit’s Black Bottom district in 1949. Blue (Al’Jaleel McGhee) is a jazz trumpeter. He also owns the Paradise Club — an inheritance from his late father.
Club business is now messing with Blue’s music. Should he sell the club or save it? Should he put his own art first or serve the community? As Blue wrestles with these questions, sexy Silver makes the scene — and fires up the band’s libidos.
Blue refuses to be distracted — and refuses to sell the club. It’s the right thing to do. And no good deed goes unpunished.
Morisseau’s heart-wrenching play is rooted in Black history. Like the Paradise Club, it could easily be erased. “Paradise Blue” fights the erasure. Directed by Chuck Smith.
Through Feb. 15. Urbanite Theatre. 1487 Second St. $30-$44. Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.
Max Wolf Friedlich’s “Job” rhymes with “Bob.” His play explores the Big Tech workplace, not the trials of the Biblical patriarch. But its level of suffering would make Job flinch.
Jane (Casey Wortmann), a twentysomething IT wizard, does most of the suffering. She has a meltdown at work — and her tantrum becomes a viral video. For Jane to get her job back, a therapist must certify that she won’t go nuts again.
Lloyd (David Breitbarth) is her kindly boomer shrink — but his evaluation starts badly. When Jane pulls a gun on him.
Tense dialogue ensues — but it’s mostly an airing of Jane’s grievances. She’s got a lot of problems with boomers. And Lloyd’s going to hear about them. Thanks to Jane’s 45 automatic, he definitely listens.
Jane initially seems schizoid, paranoid, bipolar, OCD, unfiltered and unhinged. But what’s driving her mad? Jane works as a “content moderator.” (Orwellian tech-speak, I know.)
Translation: She watches and flags online videos of torture and unspeakable depravity. That’s literally her job. No wonder Jane lost it.
Friedlich hints of a darker secret — but doesn’t spell it out. His razor-sharp psychological thriller is packed with hard questions. And no easy answers. Directed by Meg Gilbert.
Jan. 21-March 8. Florida Studio Theatre's Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. $39-$59 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.
Deborah Brevoort’s play sneaks you into the back rooms of NASA’s first-generation rocket scientists. In 1962, President Kennedy said, “We choose to go to the Moon.” At the time, America’s space program resembled a blooper reel. (Sputnik circles the Earth. Vanguard explodes.)
After Kennedy’s stirring speech, his NASA team got real. These high-IQ misfits, nerds and dreamers took the president’s audacious promise seriously.
How do you get to the Moon? Like an improv troupe with wicked math skills, these engineers and scientists cooked up the “blue-sky” method. These brainstorming sessions were wild flights of fancy. No rules. No stupid questions. Ask anything, think about anything. The sky’s the limit!
This fearless approach got us to the Moon. Brevoort’s fearless play celebrates the brainy oddballs who got us there. Directed by Richard Hopkins with Kate Alexander as associate director.
March 26-April 5. The Sarasota Players, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130. $15-$25. Visit ThePlayers.org.
Arthur Miller’s Puritan parable of American fear, power, and moral panic is as timely as ever. Set during the Salem witch trials of 1692-93, “The Crucible” traces how rumor became fact, accusation proof and petty vendettas ripped a community apart.
John Proctor (Vincent Pearson) is the center of this storm. He’s a flawed man — an unheroic hero. Proctor’s forced to decide if his good name — and conscience — are worth dying for.
This Sarasota Players’ production leans into the play’s original McCarthy-era intensity. Accusations ricochet, allegiances shift and silence is proof of guilt. Miller’s white-hot language is poetic, spare and relentless. He reminds us that screaming hysteria often begins with a whisper. Directed by Amanda Heisey.
April 10-26. FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail. $30-$40. Visit AsoloRep.org.
Theater’s a live-action dream, right? FSU/Asolo Conservatory's interpretation of Shakespeare’s dreamy play makes the most of it.
On this summer night, the worlds of day and night collide. Duke Theseus and Hippolyta are about to get married. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, everything. The magical forest randomizes the operating system of courtly order. That chaos could be scary. But love potions, mischievous fairies and the worst acting troupe of all time ( make it hilarious.
Puck’s puckish magic flips identities and lusts. Bottom the Weaver makes an ass of himself. It’s an ass/bottom pun, get it? One of Shakespeare’s coarse jokes, but relax, gentle people.
It’s just a dream. As Puck said, “Think but this, and all is mended.” And there’s an end on’t, as the Bard would say. Directed by Jonathan Epstein.
April 17-May 24. FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail. $37-$99. Visit AsoloRep.org.
Asolo Repertory Theatre's production of “Fiddler on the Roof” captures a vanished world. It’s an adaptation of Sholom Aleichem’s “Tevye” stories. Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick adapted it. Their 1960s musical portrays Jewish life in Anatevka, Russia, in the early 1900s.
Said village is balanced as delicately as the titular rooftop violinist. Down on the ground, Tevye (Tom Nicholas) tries to marry off his three daughters. Sounds simple. But the village’s tapestry of tradition, love, politics and persecution makes it complicated. Yank the wrong thread and the tapestry rips.
Tevye’s matches pulls thread after thread — until the fabric finally tears. (Don’t cry. The villagers keep singing and go to America.) “Fiddler” bursts with music and humor. But it also carries a burden. Anatevka is gone. This show defiantly remembers it. Directed by Peter Rothstein.
