HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — Actors Melissa Cartwright and Mike Burnette discuss "Nolan's Wake," a play about a family in mourning, where old issues bubble to the surface, and what makes this show perfect for the holidays.
Nolan’s Wake
A Curtain Up New Play
November 14, 2025 to November 22, 2025
7:30pm & 3pm Sat.
Studio Theater
by Patti Veconi
Th, Fri, Sat – 7:30 PM. Sat 3PM.
Sunday 11/16 at 4PM
For tickets and more information, visit thez.org.
When the death of their matriarch, Rose Nolan, brings a blended family together, they quickly realize funeral arrangements are the least of their unsettled business. Foremost, oldest sister Mary needs a home, (and a mental health evaluation). Sister Colleen has wanderlust and a bad alcohol habit. Sister-in-law Amy is in the throes of a difficult pregnancy and more difficult marriage, and no-one understands the tension between step-siblings Grace and Robert. Set in the last days of 1999, the Nolans endure tragedy, a snow storm, a contagion of car problems, one uninvited cat, and above all the challenge of coming to terms with what it is and what it means to be sisters.
“Nolan’s Wake” was initially developed in Arlene Hutton’s Master Playwriting Class at The Barrow Group. The play received a development grant from Piper Theatre in Brooklyn, NY for a staged reading in 2024 and was a 2025 finalist (top 3%) for Seattle Public Theatre’s Distillery Festival.”
Paid for by Zeiders American Dream Theater.
