Wilson Family
Black Box theatre
OCT's Wilson Family
Black Box Theatre
Our Black Box space has been developing and growing over the past few years. An intimate, underground space with unique ambiance and uses, the Black Box is now home to many celebrated OCT events: The Living Room Reading Series, Papa Capp’s Variety Show, The 10-Minute Play Festival, The Winter Series, Post-Mortem Players smaller productions, and OCT Summer Camps. When not in use for performances, the space can be used for rehearsals and meetings.
OCT views this venue as an opportunity to offer productions and events that call for a more intimate environment, as it holds fewer than half the seats of the main stage. Such a space allows us to explore lesser-known titles and sometimes ‘edgier’ subject matter.
Recently, the Wilson Family Black Box has seen facility improvements, such as isolated heating and air conditioning units, dedicated lighting and sound systems, and updated seating. OCT continues to dedicate resources to further developing and improving the Black Box space for exciting future endeavors.
2026 Wilson Family Black Box Series
Driving Miss Daisy
Written by: Alfred Uhry
Directed by: Lisa Ulanow
Audition Dates: January 4 and 5, 2026
Performance Dates: February 26 to March 1, 2026
Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The Story: The place is the Deep South, the time 1948, just prior to the civil rights movement. Having recently demolished another car, Daisy Werthan, a rich, sharp-tongued Jewish widow of seventy-two, is informed by her son, Boolie, that henceforth she must rely on the services of a chauffeur. The person he hires for the job is a thoughtful, unemployed black man, Hoke, whom Miss Daisy immediately regards with disdain and who, in turn, is not impressed with his employer’s patronizing tone and, he believes, her latent prejudice. But, in a series of absorbing scenes spanning twenty-five years, the two, despite their mutual differences, grow ever closer to, and more dependent on, each other.
If All the Sky Were Paper
Written by: Andrew Carroll
Directed by: Dr. Elizabeth Peterson-Vita
Audition Dates: March 8 and 9, 2026
Performance Dates: May 14 to 17, 2026
The Story: After bestselling author Andrew Carroll found a riveting, heartfelt letter written by a distant cousin deployed as a pilot in World War II, he embarked on a trip to all fifty states and to more than thirty countries across the globe, including two active war zones, in search of more wartime correspondences. The letters and emails he found—by combat troops, medics, nurses, and chaplains, as well as family members on the home front and civilians caught in the crossfire of battle—came to represent to Carroll the “world’s great undiscovered literature.” They weren’t just about warfare, he realized, they were about the human condition itself—love and longing, courage and resilience, grief and hope, compassion and mercy, and, ultimately, reconciliation.
OCT's 10 Minute Play Festival
The 10-Minute Play Festival at OCT began in 2013, and the board immediately embraced the concept. The festival has been an annual fund-raiser event at OCT ever since. With goals of encouraging and showcasing local writing talent and helping develop beginning talents in directing, acting, and all things theatre, the festival events begin with a call for original 10-minute plays, written by playwrights from the Southeastern part of the country. The ultimate hope is the playwright might be able to attend the event and see his/her work produced live. The plays are distributed to the members of our play reading committee, who then choose 6-7 plays to produce for our festival. Directors are chosen, auditions are held, rehearsals are conducted, and the festival is produced.
Although in the past a few of our events have traveled to other venues, most of our festivals have been performed on-site at OCT. We have settled into the Black Box venue and look forward to holding this event in the Black Box space now and in the future.
Collage by Kara Barnette
Living Room
Reading Series
Next Up
"That Championship Season"
January 4, 2026
4 p.m.
That Championship Season is a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by Jason Miller about four former high school basketball teammates who reunite with their coach 20 years after winning the state championship, only to find their lives haven't lived up to their glory days, leading to a tense and revealing evening filled with conflict, bigotry, and disillusionment.
Papa Capp's
Music
Papa Capp pitched the idea of a variety show to the Old Courthouse Theatre Board of Directors about two and a half years ago. Since then, we’ve produced the event over 24 times and still going strong!
All acts and performances are welcome to offer their art in a safe and supportive environment. We’ve seen many singers showcasing their original and cover tunes, improvised skits, comedians, story tellers, poets, jugglers, clowns, mimes, Karaoke artists, and much more!
Papa opens the show with a “family friendly” first hour. After a short intermission, Papa comes back with the ‘Stupendously Hilarious Incredible Talent Show’ where anything goes, as long as it’s legal!
Papa Capp’s variety show runs the first Tuesday of each month in the Black Box Theatre. Admission is free (we ask for a small donation if you’re able.) Concessions are available.
Make plans to come out and enjoy a rare evening of a variety of performances. You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to. We hope to see you the first Tuesday of the month! Papa Loves You!”
Post Mortem Players
STAGE FRIGHT IS OUR BUSINESS
Founded in 2022 by horror fan, Charlotte native, and long-time performing arts professional, Chris Stonnell, Post Mortem Players is a new theatre company that specializes in stage works of horror, the macabre, and things that go bump in the night.
Representing the Charlotte, North Carolina region, productions take place at the Old Courthouse Theatre in Concord.
Each season consists of three hair-raising productions: our annual "Christmas Spirits" ghost story in December, and two other classic or contemporary horror plays and musicals, one in October for Halloween and the other in late spring/early summer.
The First Performance of their 4th Season is Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show.
Performance Dates: October 23, 2025 to November 1, 2025
