The wait is over—single tickets are on sale now!

From heartwarming to downright hilarious, this season is filled with familiar stories told in fresh, fun ways. These “Stories in Motion” will sweep you off your feet and take you on a journey that can only be experienced through live theatre.

Explore this season’s shows—there is something for absolutely everyone to enjoy and tickets to all shows are on sale now! Snag your seats today

This is Tom Jones!

Book, Lyrics & Music by Mark Brown
Music by Paul Mirkovich

Director Emily N. Wells
Music Director Steven Goers
Choreographer Debbie Blunden-Diggs
September 7 – 25, 2023
Loft Theatre 

Henry Fielding’s heart-throbbing masterpiece meets the frenzied, mop-top sounds of the 1960s known as the British Invasion. Aristocrats, wenches and scalawags abound in this bawdy and rollicking romp through the back roads and bedchambers of England

GET TICKETS


Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous

By Pearl Cleage
Director Torie Wiggins
October 26 – November 12, 2023
Loft Theatre 

After decades of self-imposed exile in Amsterdam, actress Anna Campbell and her manager Betty Sampson receives an invitation to remount their controversial performance piece “Naked Wilson.” Uncertain of her reception, Anna auditions her possible replacement, an ambitious young performer whose experience is limited to the adult entertainment industry. These two women confront their differing world views with humor and grace–and still manage to find common ground.  

GET TICKETS


Reindeer Sessions

By Eric Ulloa
Director Igor Goldin
December 13 – 23, 2023
Loft Theatre 

After a fight that left history’s most famous reindeer with a broken red nose, Blitzen is forced into a series of Anger Management therapy sessions by Kringle Enterprises. Tasked with finding the cause of this violent outburst, his therapist Dr. Arbor hopes to help him understand what led to this moment and if he can save his job on the reindeer squad.  You won’t look at The North Pole the same way again in this hilarious and unexpected ride! 

GET TICKETS


Shipwrecked! An Entertainment:
The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself)

By Donald Margulies
Director Greg Hellems
February 22 – March 10, 2024
Loft Theatre 

The adventurous Louis de Rougemont invites you to hear his amazing story of bravery, survival and celebrity that left 19th-century England spellbound. Dare to be whisked away in a story of the high seas and all corners of the globe, populated by flying wombats, giant sea turtles and a monstrous man-eating octopus.  Shipwrecked examines how far we’re willing to blur the line between fact and fiction to leave our mark on the world. 

GET TICKETS


peerless

By Jiehae Park
Director Marya Spring Cordes
April 25 – May 12, 2024
Loft Theatre 

Twins M and L have given up everything to get into The College.  So when D gets “their” spot instead, they figure they’ve got only one option: kill him.

A darkly comedic take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth about the ultra-ambitious and the cut-throat world of high school during college admissions. 

GET TICKETS


The Kite Runner

Adapted by Matthew Spangler
Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini

May 28 – June 2, 2024
Victoria Theatre –  Co-presented with Dayton Live 

Based on Khaled Hosseini’s beloved, internationally best-selling novel, THE KITE RUNNER is a powerful new play adapted by Matthew Spangler that follows one man’s journey to confront his past and find redemption. Told across two decades and two continents, THE KITE RUNNER is an unforgettable journey of forgiveness, and shows us all that we can be good again.

Single tickets are coming soon.


The Human Race expresses gratitude for the public and private support which makes our productions possible: The Loft Season Sponsors: Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Foundation; Sustainability sponsors:  Anne F. Johnson, Steve and Lou Mason, ELM Foundation, and Morris Furniture Company;  Additional Season support:  Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the Arts, Erma R. Catterton Trust, The Shubert Foundation;  Organizational support:  Culture Works, Montgomery County, Ohio Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grant. Media Sponsor: WDPR Discover Classical. Pay What You Can Sponsor: Enterprise Holdings Foundation.  

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INDIGO Meet & Greet

WHO: Cast & Creative Team of INDIGO
WHAT: Meet & Greet, Show excerpts, Q&A
WHERE: The Loft Theatre, 126 N. Main St. Dayton OH 45402, 3rd Floor
WHEN: Tuesday, May 16, 2023 at 6:00 PM

Join us as we formally introduce the Cast and Creative team of Indigo! While attending you will have the opportunity to enjoy selected excerpts from the show, hear about its origins and participate in an interactive Q&A. Indigo is a powerful and heartfelt musical about accepting our parents’ decisions and challenging us to examine our own. Come and see why we chose this WORLD PREMIERE to close out our 22-23 Season!

RSVP to Tiffany Countryman: tiffany@humanracetheatre.org

The Human Race Theatre Company’s “Stories in Motion”

For the upcoming 2023-2024 season, The Human Race Theatre Company sparks creativity, imagination and invention through a season of “Stories in Motion,” with shows inspired by or adapted from existing tales. Each title has been intentionally selected to challenge and advance theatrical storytelling, our audiences, and our theatre company. This evolution can only be experienced in the theatre because every night is a unique exchange between the playwright’s vision, the performer and audience. This 38th year marks the first season devised by new Artistic Director Emily N. Wells.  

“Theatre has a unique ability to tell stories in a way that sparks an audience’s imagination – as if they are inside the story,” said Wells. “Theatre and storytelling live as dynamic, evolving art forms, just as we evolve as people.” She adds. We are transforming well-known stories and timeless themes into stage productions designed for modern audiences. Connected by a theme of adaptation, this season of Stories in Motion presents contemporary plays and musicals through the artist’s lens.  

The season will launch in September with the world premiere musical This is Tom Jones! by Mark Brown and Paul Mirkovich, and directed by Wells. Not that Tom Jones!  But inspired by the Henry Fielding book, Brown and Mirkovich merge the novel with 1960’s pop sounds of the British Invasion.  Opening in late October, Atlanta playwright Pearl Cleage’s Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous takes the stage, directed by Cincinnati favorite Torie Wiggins. An aging actor is invited to remount her revolutionary take on August Wilson, but finds herself auditioning her replacement instead. 

December sees the second world premiere in the season, Reindeer Sessions, by Eric Ulloa (26 Pebbles, Kevin Moore Celebration.) Directed by Igor Goldin, Blitzen heads to anger management therapy after an incident with that other famous reindeer. To shake the February doldrums, head out on a rollicking sea adventure with Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself) by Donald Margulies and directed by Greg Hellems. Inspired by a true story, adventurer Louis de Rougemont shares his adventures on the high seas in a series of magazine articles. But can we believe everything he shares? 

In April – and just in time for college acceptance letters – peerless, Jiehae Park’s take on Macbeth, puts us in the cutthroat world of academic admissions where every option is on the table for twins M and L in a witty, pointed and stylized look at competition. Peerless will be directed by Marya Spring Cordes. To wrap up the season in May, The Human Race partners with Dayton Live to bring the national tour of the critically-celebrated Broadway production of The Kite Runner. Adapted by Matthew Spangler from Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling novel, this extraordinary and sensitively told story will shine bright on the Victoria Theatre stage.   

We are so enthusiastic about every show this coming season, we’re making them all available in a 6-Show Subscription Package! Other “Flexible Options” include 3-show packages, and annual Memberships. By popular demand, a Parents Day Out Series is available at no additional charge. Military and student discounts available. Renewals will begin mid-April and new subscriptions are available at any time after that. All tickets are available through Dayton Live Box Office at 937-228-3630 or https://www.daytonlive.org/series/loft-season/. 

2023-24 SEASON PACKAGES ARE ON SALE NOW!


The Human Race Theatre Company  2023-24 Season

This is Tom Jones!

Book, Lyrics & Music by Mark Brown
Music by Paul Mirkovich

Director Emily N. Wells
Music Director Steven Goers
Choreographer Debbie Blunden-Diggs
September 7 – 25, 2023
Loft Theatre 

Henry Fielding’s heart-throbbing masterpiece meets the frenzied, mop-top sounds of the 1960s known as the British Invasion. Aristocrats, wenches and scalawags abound in this bawdy and rollicking romp through the back roads and bedchambers of England. 


Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous

By Pearl Cleage
Director Torie Wiggins
October 26 – November 13, 2023
Loft Theatre 

After decades of self-imposed exile in Amsterdam, actress Anna Campbell and her manager Betty Sampson receives an invitation to remount their controversial performance piece “Naked Wilson.” Uncertain of her reception, Anna auditions her possible replacement, an ambitious young performer whose experience is limited to the adult entertainment industry. These two women confront their differing world views with humor and grace–and still manage to find common ground.  


Reindeer Sessions

By Eric Ulloa
Director Igor Goldin
December 13 – 23, 2023
Loft Theatre 

After a fight that left history’s most famous reindeer with a broken red nose, Blitzen is forced into a series of Anger Management therapy sessions by Kringle Enterprises. Tasked with finding the cause of this violent outburst, his therapist Dr. Arbor hopes to help him understand what led to this moment and if he can save his job on the reindeer squad.  You won’t look at The North Pole the same way again in this hilarious and unexpected ride! 


Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself)

By Donald Margulies
Director Greg Hellems
February 22 – March 10, 2024
Loft Theatre 

The adventurous Louis de Rougemont invites you to hear his amazing story of bravery, survival and celebrity that left 19th-century England spellbound. Dare to be whisked away in a story of the high seas and all corners of the globe, populated by flying wombats, giant sea turtles and a monstrous man-eating octopus.  Shipwrecked examines how far we’re willing to blur the line between fact and fiction to leave our mark on the world. 


peerless

By Jiehae Park
Director Marya Spring Cordes
April 25 – May 12, 2024
Loft Theatre 

Twins M and L have given up everything to get into The College.  So when D gets “their” spot instead, they figure they’ve got only one option: kill him.

A darkly comedic take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth about the ultra-ambitious and the cut-throat world of high school during college admissions. 


The Kite Runner

Adapted by Matthew Spangler
Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini

May 28 – June 2, 2024
Victoria Theatre –  Co-presented with Dayton Live 

Based on Khaled Hosseini’s beloved, internationally best-selling novel, THE KITE RUNNER is a powerful new play adapted by Matthew Spangler that follows one man’s journey to confront his past and find redemption. Told across two decades and two continents, THE KITE RUNNER is an unforgettable journey of forgiveness, and shows us all that we can be good again.


The Human Race expresses gratitude for the public and private support which makes our productions possible: The Loft Season Sponsors: Jack W. and Sally D. Eichelberger Foundation; Sustainability sponsors:  Anne F. Johnson, Steve and Lou Mason, ELM Foundation, and Morris Furniture Company;  Additional Season support:  Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the Arts, Erma R. Catterton Trust, The Shubert Foundation;  Organizational support:  Culture Works, Montgomery County, Ohio Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Dayton Region Arts Renewal Grant. Media Sponsor: WDPR Discover Classical. Pay What You Can Sponsor: Enterprise Holdings Foundation.  

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Final weekend of BARBECUE

This weekend is your final chance to catch BARBECUE… an acclaimed, hilarious, and devastating comedy by Robert O’Hara. Shows are scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.


Sunday is the Parents’ Day Out Performance

 

Can’t find a babysitter? Don’t let that keep you from the show! We’re offering a free theatre activity workshop for kids 5-12 in The Human Race Theatre Company rehearsal room during the Sunday, April 30th performance of BARBECUE.

Child drop-off is at 1:30 p.m.

You must have tickets for that afternoon’s 2 p.m. performance of BARBECUE.

GET TICKETS FOR BARBECUE!


Share your favorite Barbecue recipe

There is still time to participate in The Human Race Recipe-for-a-Recipe event.


Relive the Community Barbecue

We had an excellent day at The Inspiration Church. Relive the fun below:


You can still donate to The Human Race via City Barbeque Kettering

Wow! We are so grateful to everyone who ordered a delicious meal and to City Barbeque Kettering for donating 20% back to The Human Race. If you didn’t get a chance to order and would still like to donate to us via their campaign, you can do so below. Thank you!

DONATE NOW!


Who’s 37?

We’re so busy wrapping this incredible run of BARBECUE and prepping for INDIGO that we almost forgot… but The Human Race Theatre turned 37 today! Whuh?!

As Emily always says, “If it weren’t for you, we’d be putting these shows on in a dark, cold theatre” and that wouldn’t be much fun.

You are the secret sauce to our success—thank you for your continued love and support!

Parents’ Day Out to see BARBECUE

This week is your final chance to catch BARBECUE… an acclaimed, hilarious, and devastating comedy by Robert O’Hara.

Can’t find a babysitter? Don’t let that keep you from the show! We’re offering a free theatre activity workshop for kids 5-12 in The Human Race Theatre Company rehearsal room during the Sunday, April 30th performance of BARBECUE.

Child drop-off is at 1:30 p.m.

You must have tickets for that afternoon’s 2 p.m. performance of BARBECUE.

GET TICKETS FOR BARBECUE!

Chillin’ & Grillin’

BARBECUE by Robert O’Hara, will be live at the Loft from April 13 to April 30. We’ve lined up a bevy of events and engagements to celebrate this hilarious and devastating comedy.


Free Community Barbecue

Saturday, April 15 | 2 TO 5 PM | The Inspiration Church

The Human Race Theatre Company in partnership with The Inspiration Church welcomes all Daytonians to come together for a memorable time of food, fun, and fellowship!

DIRECTIONS | MORE DETAILS

REGISTER FOR THE FREE BARBECUE


Recipe-for-a-Recipe

What’s a barbecue without the secret sauce? Swap your favorite barbecue recipes with other members of The Human Race family during the entire run of Barbecue.

We’ve created a recipe card for you to download and bring to any performance of BARBECUE:

DOWNLOAD OUR RECIPE CARD


So many ways to save on tickets to Barbecue

As always, there are multiple ways to get more laughs for less.

Pay what you CAN

Wednesday, April 12 at 8:00 PM – to gain admission, please bring a cash donation of any amount to benefit Samaritan Behavioral Health – CAM Program or a canned good/non-perishable food item to benefit The Foodbank.

Seating is first-come, first-served. Please arrive at the downstairs door no earlier than 6:30 pm.

Sawbuck Sunday $10 Tickets

Sunday, April 16 at 7:00 PM – all “last minute” tickets purchased starting at 5:30 pm for the 7 PM performance on 04/16/23 of Barbecue are only $10.

$10 Rush Tickets at Every Performance

We now offer 10 seats for $10 per ticket at each performance. Rush tickets are available for purchase in person when the Box Office opens 90 minutes before the show starts.

$20 Side Seats at Every Performance

Side seating is available at lower prices—$20 per ticket for every performance this season. Select these affordable seats online when you purchase your tickets through Dayton Live’s website.

 

 

Recipe-for-a-recipe

We are so excited about our upcoming performances of Barbecue! To help celebrate, we invite you to participate in our Recipe-for-a-recipe game. Family barbecues and cookouts are something that we all enjoy!

There is nothing better than the anticipation of enjoying a signature dish made by the hands of your favorite family member! We all have recipes of our favorite dishes that have been passed down through the generations and whose flavors stand the test of time!

Share your favorite family recipe with other theatre lovers and treat yourself by taking and trying one of their recipes.

Here is how you play:

  1. Download our recipe card.
  2. Write down your favorite family recipe.
  3. Cut out and bring your recipe card with you when you attend one of the performances of Barbecue
  4. Pin your recipe card to our recipe wall (located in the hallway, right of the theater).
  5. Unpin another participant’s recipe of your choice, take it home, cook, and enjoy!

Optional: Share your experience on social media and tag #humanracetheatre

DOWNLOAD OUR RECIPE CARD

If you have any questions, please contact tiffany@humanracetheatre.org

2023 Community Barbecue

Now that the weather is beginning to break and Spring is almost here, let’s celebrate outside! The Human Race Theatre Company in partnership with The Inspiration Church welcomes the community of Dayton, Ohio to come together for a memorable time of food, fun, and fellowship!

On Saturday, April 15th, 2023 – from 2 PM-5 PM – this dynamic partnership will host a Community Barbecue for the residents of Dayton, Ohio. [FREE] food, artistic entertainment, door prizes and games for the kids will be provided. Come out to meet Community Leadership and some of our Artistic Partners!

Registration is mandatory to attend.

REGISTER FOR THE FREE BARBECUE

To become a partner of this event and for more information, please contact Tiffany Countryman at tiffany@humanracetheatre.org.


Schedule of Events

General

  • 12 PM – 1:30 PM – Set-Up
  • 1:30 PM – 1:45 PM – Team Huddle (Staff & Volunteers)
  • 2 PM – Event Begins
  • 4:30 PM – Cool Down
  • 5 PM – Shutdown & Cleanup

Outside the Tent

  • 3 PM – 4 PM – FREE FOOD DISTRIBUTION
  • 3 PM – 5 PM – Game Truck
  • 3:30 PM – 5 PM – Fire Department

Inside the Tent

  • 2:15 PM – 3:00 PM – Improv
  • 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM – Open Mic
  • 4:15 PM – Raffles
  • 4:30 PM – Cool down
  • 5 PM – Clean-Up