Every year, Burning Coal Theatre uses its theatre space in Raleigh, NC to foster young and emerging innovative theatre talent in a series of new works and plays in the summer months.
Second Stage, also known as our “Wait ‘Til You See This!” series, is typically performed in repertory in June at our usual space, the Murphey School Auditorium (224 Polk St., Raleigh, NC 27604). It is an opportunity to experiment with form, present new works, and / or collaborate with up-and-coming artists.
There is no physical second performance location at Burning Coal’s space. The name is derived from the type of work typically seen on the smaller upstairs or second stages of larger theatres. Historically, these spaces have been a hub for new, innovative and contemporary works – exactly what we aim to bring to our summer series.
We are thrilled to bring in four different Triangle-area professional-level productions to present a wide array of unique work from June 11 – 29, 2025:
Burning Coal Theatre Company and Soundingline Arts presents:
The Mansion of Many Apartments
Written and directed by Bronwen Carson
On the Burning Coal Theatre Stage
Run Time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Synopsis:
29 yr old Rowen awakes in the ICU after an accident, no longer able to recognize faces, even of those closest to her. Prosopagnosia, the doctors say. Face recognition blindness. It may just be temporary, they say.
She hopes returning home to familiarity and routine will reorganize the scrambled and smudged faces. It doesn’t.
The inability to recognize anyone in her life begins to have drastic affects on her relationships, so she starts to build memories and associations that allow her to recognize not only her friends and family, but her own reflection. But as her memory constructs become more elaborate and the ways she, and her relationships have dramatically shifted, her friends and family grow increasingly concerned and impatient, pushing her to return to the “real” world.
The Mansion of Many Apartments explores the nature of identity, memory, and where autonomy and community blur.
Dates:
Wednesday, June 11th at 7:30 pm This performance is cancelled.
Saturday, June 14th at 5:00 pm
Saturday, June 21st at 7:30 pm
Sunday, June 22nd at 2:00 pm
Friday, June 27th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 28th at 2:00 pm
Tickets: $10 (+$1 processing fee and taxes)
Burning Coal Theatre Company PRESENTS:
Sea Change
by Tamara Kissane
Directed by Rebecca Holderness
On the Burning Coal Theatre Stage
Run Time: 90 minutes, including 10 minute intermission
Synopsis: The year is 2092 in an America hobbled by climate change, wealth discrepancy, and scarcity. As she races to preserve whatever remains, National Archivist Miranda Hayes is called back to the coast of North Carolina to say goodbye to her dying mother. Can Miranda preserve the crumbling family home and fractured relationships she left behind? Does she want to?
Dates:
Thursday, June 12th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 14th at 7:30 pm
Sunday, June 15th at 2:00 pm
Saturday, June 21st at 5:00 pm
Sunday, June 22nd at 5:00 pm
Wednesday, June 25th at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $10 (+$1 processing fee and taxes)
Pure Life Theatre and Burning Coal Theatre Company present:
Ride the Cyclone
by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell
Directed by Jireh Ijeoma
On the Burning Coal Theatre Stage
Run Time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Synopsis: In this hilarious and outrageous story, the lives of six teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir abruptly end in a freak accident on a roller coaster. When they awaken in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller invites each of them to share a story to win a prize unlike any other — the chance to return to life. This popular musical offers a funny and touching perspective on what makes a life well-lived!
Dates:
Friday, June 13th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 14th at 2:00 pm
Sunday, June 15th at 5:00 pm
Wednesday, June 18th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 28th at 5:00 pm
Sunday, June 29th at 5:00 pm
Tickets: $10-$20
Tickets for Ride the Cyclone are available through Pure Life Theatre’s website
Burning Coal Theatre Company presents:
Forgive Us, Gustavito!
Devised and performed by Otherland Theatre Ensemble
On the Burning Coal Theatre Stage
Run Time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Synopsis: Detective Emilio Hippo is back on the case, and this time, it’s personal! Inspired by true events, Forgive Us, Gustavito is equal parts classic noir and outrageous animal madness. Deep in the shadowy underbelly of a zoo, we ask the question “what does it mean to be complicit in a system you cannot identify.
Dates:
Thursday, June 19th at 7:30 pm
Friday, June 20th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 21st at 2:00 pm
Thursday, June 26th at 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 28th at 7:30 pm
Sunday, June 29th at 2:00 pm
Tickets: $10 (+$1 processing fee and taxes)
