2026 Season
The Boys Next Door
A 1987 off-Broadway success, this funny yet very touching play provides a glimpse into the lives of four mentally-disabled men who live in a group home under the watchful eye of a sincere but increasingly “burned out” social worker. You’ll meet Norman, who loves doughnuts; Lucien, who lugs around a weighty pile of books that he cannot read; Arnold, a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer with a persecution complex; and Barry, who fantasizes that he is a golf pro. Filled with humor, the play is also marked by the compassion with which it peers into the world of its handicapped protagonists.
Performed at Sydnor Performance Hall inside Schewel Hall at the University of Lynchburg.
February 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29
Directed by Josh Lynn
Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella is a musical in two acts with music by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Douglas Carter Beane based partly on Hammerstein’s 1957 television adaptation. The story is derived from the fairy tale Cinderella by Charles Perrault. It concerns a young woman forced into a life of servitude by her cruel stepmother and selfish stepsisters. She dreams of a better life, and with the help of her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella is transformed into an elegant young lady and is able to attend the ball to meet her Prince. In this version, however, she opens the Prince’s eyes to injustice in his kingdom
Performed at Dillard Performing Arts Center at the University of Lynchburg.
June 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14
Directed by Jeff Krantz
A Very Sordid Wedding
It’s 2015, seventeen years after Sordid Lives and Peggy’s unfortunate death, after tripping over G.W.’s wooden legs, and life has now moved on for the residents of Winters, Texas. Based on the 2017 hit film of the same name, A Very Sordid Wedding explores the questions, bigotry and the fallout of what happens when gay marriage comes to communities and families that are not quite ready to accept it. Bigoted “religious freedom,” marriage equality and cultural acceptance are all explored with Del Shores’ trademark approach to using comedy and his much-beloved Sordid Lives characters to deal with these important current social issues and the very real process of accepting your family for who they are instead of who you want them to be.
Performed at Dillard Performing Arts Center at the University of Lynchburg.
Show dates are September 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20
Directed by TBA
The Play That Goes Wrong
From Mischief, Broadway masters of comedy, comes the smash hit farce. Welcome to opening night of the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show—an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences! Part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, this Olivier Award–winning comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter!
Performed at Dillard Performing Arts Center at the University of Lynchburg.
Show dates are November 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22
Directed by Mary Mayrose