Burning Coal Theatre supports local writers and playwrights by developing new plays of artists connected to North Carolina.
Learn more about our next play reading: REUNION
Join us on Tuesday, December 16th 2025 at 7pm for a staged reading of REUNION by Georgia-based playwright Nathaniel Lachenmeyer.
Directed by Susan Gross
Set in the winter of 1993 on a bench along Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, the story revolves around two characters: Chuck, a homeless man in his late forties who is haunted by voices only he can hear, and Than, a 23-year-old man visiting the area to reconnect with his estranged father. Reunion is a deeply moving exploration of the complexities of family relationships, the impact of mental illness, the human desire for connection and understanding, and the possibility of redemption.
This performance is free and open to the public, no tickets required.
Burning Coal Theatre Company is committed to developing new plays and theatre practices by artists connected to the Tar Heel State.* In producing new and innovative theatre, The Coal Mines development process focuses on five objectives:
-To promote and celebrate playwriting throughout North Carolina
-To include Southern voices within the national, cultural conversation
-To represent Raleigh as an inferno for the incubation and development of new work
-To encourage equity in the theatre field by welcoming underrepresented artists and encouraging both artists and audiences of all backgrounds
-To introduce local audiences to emerging plays and playwrights
Burning Coal Theatre Company is recognized for bringing innovative theatre home to Raleigh-Durham, as well as to other cities such as New York City and London. Burning Coal is committed to the exchange between regional and global performance communities.
Since 2000, Burning Coal has produced staged readings or fully mounted productions of new plays by writers connected to the Tar Heel State such as Samm-Art Williams, Angus MacLachlan and Alex Finlayson. The Coal Mines laboratory offers playwrights the opportunity to hear how new writing sounds when spoken by professional level actors–and gives audiences a peek at the new ideas and forms being developed by tomorrow’s writers.
*The Coal Mines accepts unsolicited scripts from writers with a substantial connection to North Carolina.
Please include:
One hard copy of your script (The Coal Mines considers one script per playwright at a time.)
Cover letter with your name, contact info, and prior or anticipated productions of your script
If you wish for your script to be returned, please include a SASE
Mail these materials to
Burning Coal Theatre Company
Attn: The Coal Mines
224 Polk Street
Raleigh, NC 27604
In addition, please send an electronic copy of your script (PDF preferred) to info@burningcoal.org and let us know the hard copy is on the way.
The Coal Mines will offer selected scripts a staged reading by professional level actors in the theatre at the historic Murphey School, and host the playwright’s stay for the duration of their reading. Performances are free and open to the public.
