One of the great things about living in the Quad Cities is that at this time of year, you are never more than a ten minute drive from a playhouse putting on a good show. Case in point: I bus greeted for Quad City Music Guild’s production of West Side Story last night, and then jumped in my car and still made it to Playcrafter’s Barn Theater for the 7:30 curtain for Dixie Swim Club. Directed by Jacque Cohoon, working from a script by Jones, Hope, and Wooten, Dixie Swim Club is about a group of five women who rent out the same beach house every year, on the year in August. We meet them when... Read More

It makes sense, as it usually takes a Barn Owl to best see Constellations, and Playcrafters Barn Theatre is pleased to present the first in our Barn Owl Series: Constellations by Nick Payne. How might your life have turned out differently? How do any of the infinitely small decisions you make every day change everything? Marianne and Roland meet at a party and what follows is not an ordinary love story. We see the countless ways a relationship can fail. Until it eventually doesn’t. With a healthy dose of science, beekeeping, and love, Constellations is not to miss. Starring Anastasiya Newkirk... Read More

The most powerful dramas come with a healthy dose of comedy. And I might add the most powerful dramas have at least as many laughs as tears. I saw Fried Green Tomatoes with my mom and my grandma when I was ten. Forrest Gump, My Girl, Big Fish, How to Make An American Quilt, these are all dramatic stories. Tearjerkers. And yet… every one of them had long, satisfying stretches of laugh-out-loud humor. Steel Magnolias joins that club. I saw it with my dad at Playcrafter’s Barn Theater yesterday. A play by Robert Harling, which was adapted into a movie in 1989 with Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field,... Read More

If you have ever been a fan of Robert Harling’s stage play “Steel Magnolias,” then here is your chance to see it again, or maybe for the first time, at Playcrafters Barn Theater. On Friday, January 20 through Sunday, January 22, Playcrafters will be performing their second weekend of this production. You can view the event facebook page at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1420768954611955/ Playcrafters Barn Theater is located at 4950 35th Avenue, Moline, IL 61265. Show times for Friday and Saturday are at 7:30 p.m., and the Sunday showing is at 3:00 p.m. Tickets can be... Read More

I really wanted to like Playcrafters’ “Deathtrap.” After all, it has a quality cast and crew, many of whom I know or have worked with in theater, so I know they’ve got the talent to pull it off. It’s largely a really fun script. Yeah, going in I really had high hopes for the show. I really did. You feeling the suspense? You’re wondering if I’m going to give it a good review or tear it apart, aren’t you? Good. Because that on-the-edge of your seat feeling is what makes Playcrafters’ “Deathtrap” such devilish fun. I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, because watching... Read More

Playcrafters Barn Theater is unwinding a devious “Deathtrap” this weekend, rolling out the classic thriller September 9,10,11 & 16,17,18 at its 4950 35th Ave., Moline venue. Directed by Patti Flaherty, and starring Jason Platt, Adam Cerny, Nancy Teelink and Pamela Briggs, “Deathtrap” involves Sidney Bruhl, a successful writer of Broadway thrillers, who is struggling to overcome a dry spell which has resulted in a string of failures and a shortage of funds. His luck changes when he receives a script from a student – a thriller with the potential to be a Broadway hit. Sidney and... Read More