Who’s Writing the Season?

A data-driven look at Tampa Bay’s 2025–2026 theatre lineups reveals who’s being produced—and who’s still on the margins.

Editor's Note: This article focuses on theatre companies in the Tampa Bay area that either employ at least one full-time staff member or operate under union agreements, and that have publicly announced programming for the 2025–26 season.

By Avery Anderson

When audiences take their seats this fall at theatres across Tampa Bay, they’ll find no shortage of familiarity: classic musicals, Pulitzer winners, Broadway imports, and Agatha Christie mysteries. But look behind the curtain—and the patterns become harder to ignore.

Across seven major theatre companies and nearly 40 productions, just two world premieres appear on the calendar. And among the dozens of playwrights being produced, the vast majority are White, male, and long-established.

For a region as vibrant and diverse as Tampa Bay, the question isn’t just what stories are being told—it’s who gets to tell them.

Risk, On the Sidelines

In a post-pandemic economy still marked by financial precarity, world premieres remain the rarest of theatrical currency. Only two shows across the season qualify: Lady Disdain, a new play by Lauren Gunderson at Asolo Repertory Theatre, and Bash of the Titans, a world-premiere jukebox parody from freeFall Theatre.

Notably, both premieres come from institutions with strong internal pipelines. Gunderson is one of the most-produced playwrights in America, and Bash is co-created by longtime collaborators Eric Davis and Matthew McGee—both local artists and both openly queer.

In fact, Bash stands out for more than its originality: it’s the only work this season created by openly queer playwrights.

Progress for Women—But Is It Enough?

Female playwrights appear across several companies, and in a few cases, make up a significant portion of the season. American Stage is staging works by four women out of five productions. Asolo Rep’s lineup includes plays by Lauren Gunderson, Eboni Booth, Rachel Wagstaff, and Agatha Christie.

These companies deserve credit for prioritizing women in their season planning. But across the full regional landscape, representation is inconsistent. Some companies feature only one woman-authored work, often in a shared credit. Others feature none at all. Many of the credits for women come through adaptations, co-authorships, or musicals.

For all the progress made in recent years, the data raises a sharper question: Is this the best we can do?

Playwrights of Color: Still Underproduced

Only a handful of playwrights of color appear across the region’s 2025–2026 lineups:

• James Ijames (White @ Off-Central Players)
• John Leguizamo (Latin History for Morons @ Stageworks)
• Eboni Booth (Primary Trust @ Asolo Rep)
• Katori Hall (The Hot Wing King @ American Stage)
• Jeff Stetson (The Meeting @ Stageworks)
• Quiara Alegría Hudes (The Good Peaches @ American Stage)
• Tori Sampson (Cadillac Crew @ The Studio@620 in partnership with Powerstories)

That’s seven names across nearly 40 shows. A few of these works center Black or Latine stories—like The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall and Latin History for Morons by John Leguizamo—but overall, playwrights of color remain underrepresented. In a state as racially and culturally diverse as Florida, the disconnect is clear.

And while these works are powerful, none of them are newly commissioned or receiving a world premiere in Tampa Bay this season.

Queer Playwrights: Still the Exception

Despite the presence of queer-coded works (Fiddler on the Roof, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea), queer playwrights are largely absent from the region’s production rosters—with one bold exception.

Bash of the Titans, the only original work commissioned and premiered locally this season, was co-created by queer artists Eric Davis and Matthew McGee. It’s a locally built production, and a reminder of the kind of bold, campy, deeply creative storytelling that comes from within the community.

It also happens to be the only premiere created by queer writers this season.

Who Gets the Mic?

There’s a pattern in the numbers: the bolder the story, the more established—or institutionally supported—the creator must be to get it produced. With very few exceptions, Tampa Bay’s theatres are leaning on familiarity. Revivals. Adaptations. Broadway-tested musicals. And even when new voices are welcomed in, they tend to arrive with proven credits or big names behind them.

Emerging playwrights are almost entirely absent. Local writers are missing. And while women have made notable inroads, it’s not always as solo authors or in newly commissioned work.

The Story Behind the Season

To be clear: there’s no shortage of artistry coming to Tampa Bay stages this year. Some shows will dazzle. Some will move us. Some may even surprise us. But this analysis suggests that the pipeline of opportunity remains narrow, and that theatres still aren’t taking many chances on who gets to speak.

If the mission of regional theatre is to reflect its community, this season may reflect more about what theatres think their audiences will buy than what their cities actually look like.

And in a region full of new voices, the story behind the season might be the one that isn’t being told—yet.

2025–2026 Season Preview by Theatre

American Stage

• Good Peaches by Quiara Alegría Hudes
• 100 Days by Abigail & Shaun Bengson
• The Scarlet Letter adapted by Kate Hamill
• Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine
• The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall

freeFall Theatre

• Tell Me on a Sunday by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Don Black
• Deathtrap by Ira Levin
• A Christmas Carol: In Concert by Bruce Greer & Keith Ferguson
• Himself and Nora by Jonathan Brielle
• And Then They Came for Me by James Still
• Bash of the Titans by Eric Davis, Matthew McGee & Michael Raabe (world premiere)

Off-Central Players

• Bakersfield Mist by Stephen Sachs
• White by James Ijames
• Art by Yasmina Reza

Asolo Repertory Theatre

• Come from Away by David Hein and Irene Sankoff
  
• All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce by Peter Rothstein
• Primary Trust by Eboni Booth
• The Mirror Crack’d by Agatha Christie, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff
• The Unfriend by Steven Moffat
• Fiddler on the Roof
  • Book by Joseph Stein; Music by Jerry Bock; Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
• Marie and Rosetta by George Brant
• Lady Disdain by Lauren Gunderson (world premiere)

Stageworks Theatre

• Evil Dead: The Musical
  • Book & Lyrics by George Reinblatt; Music by Christopher Bond, Frank Cipolla, Melissa Morris, and George Reinblatt
• Latin History for Morons by John Leguizamo
• Touching the Void adapted by David Greig; based on the book by Joe Simpson
• My Name Is Asher Lev by Aaron Posner; based on the novel by Chaim Potok
• The Meeting by Jeff Stetson
• I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
  • Book & Lyrics by Joe DiPietro; Music by Jimmy Roberts

Jobsite Theater

• Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
  • Book by Stephen King; Music & Lyrics by John Mellencamp
• The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare, adapted by David Jenkins
• The Shark Is Broken by Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon
• Danny and the Deep Blue Sea by John Patrick Shanley
• American Idiot
  • Music by Green Day; Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong; Book by Billie Joe Armstrong & Michael Mayer
• Penelope by Alex Bechtel, Grace McLean & Eva Steinmetz