Dayton Theatre Guild is pleased to announce our 2026/2027 season. We are also accepting applications for directors.
The directors’ submission deadline is Jan 11, 2026. See application and contact info at the end, below.
The Dayton Theatre Guild is dedicated to assembling a diverse, experienced, committed group of directors so we can continue to bring quality theater to our audiences.
Here are the shows in our 2026/2027 season with performance dates and approximate audition dates:
BIRTHDAY CANDLES by Noah Haidle
Performance dates: Aug 21-Sep 6, 2026
Auditions: Jul 6 & 7, 2026
(3 women, 3 men)
This is an Ensemble piece that follows one woman’s life from age 17 to 101. The other five actors play her children, her grandchildren, and other important people during the highs and lows of her life. One cake is baked to celebrate her birthdays over a century. It’s a warm, well-told story about one woman’s life, where the audience travels with her through her journey.
THE THIN PLACE by Lucas Hnath
Performance Dates: Oct 9-25, 2026
Auditions: Aug 24 & 25, 2026
(3 women, 1 man)
A young woman, Hilda, is grieving the loss of her grandmother and the mysterious disappearance of her mother. She seeks out a professional medium, Linda, to help her connect with her lost loved ones. They become entangled in a seance that blurs the lines between the supernatural and the psychological. This play explores themes of belief, manipulation, and the power of the mind, questioning whether Linda’s abilities are real or if Hilda’s grief has created a psychological break, leaving the audience to wonder what is real.
*SEASON EXTRA*
HOW IT FEELS TO FALL FROM THE SKY by Dominic Finocchiaro
Performance dates: Dec 4-13, 2026 *(two weekends)
Auditions: Oct 12 & 13, 2026
(3 women, 2 men)
After witnessing a woman plummet from the sky, five strangers in New York form a support group to process what they have seen. They decide to meet once, and then see if they need to meet further. Some of the people form a stronger bond than others, and some form relationships outside the group. This is a dramedy about loneliness, loss, and the unending possibility of salvation inside human connection.
BUG by Tracy Letts
Performance dates: Jan 29_Feb 14, 2027
Auditions: Dec 7 & 8, 2026
(2 women, 3 men)
The play takes place in a seedy Oklahoma City motel room, and centers on Agnes, a divorced waitress with a fondness for cocaine and isolation, and Peter, a soft-spoken drifter with PTSD and a psychological disorder. Agnes stays at the motel to avoid her abusive ex-husband, Jerry, who was just released from prison. Jerry eventually shows up, and there is also a bug infestation in the motel room. Themes touch on paranoia, and psychological motives.
SKELETON CREW by Dominique Morisseau
Performance dates: Mar 26-Apr 11, 2027
Auditions: Feb 1 & 2, 2027
(2 women, 2 men — all four African-American roles)
This play is part of the Detroit Project, a Trilogy of plays that takes place in the break room of a Detroit auto stamping plant in 2008. The characters form a makeshift family as their auto plant faces closure amid the Great Recession. The four characters navigate loyalty, desperation, and the struggle to survive, as fear about rumors of the plant’s closure grows. Added to that is the repeated thefts from the factory. As the chips fall, the same questions surface for each of them: when push comes to shove, do I save my own skin? What am I worth beyond my income? And who is to blame when my job disappears?
MOLL by John B. Keane
Performance dates: May 21-Jun 6, 2027
Auditions: Mar 29 & 30, 2027
(2 women, 5 men)
In this comedy, three priests of a rural Irish presbytery lose their housekeeper, and interview and hire Moll Kettle, a sharp-witted woman, to replace her. Moll takes over the running of the presbytery, manipulating the three priests and the parish to her own advantage. She favors the elderly canon, and feeds him well, while nearly starving the younger curates. She organizes bingo to raise money for a new school, secures a pension for herself, and effectively becomes a powerful, almost tyrannical figure within the parish.
If you are interested in directing one of these please fill out the Director Submission form at: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdLftw8VumylE…/viewform
Make inquiries to Jared Mola at jared.mola@daytontheatreguild.org.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 