The Lynn Theatre Studio Series
About the Studio Series
The Lynn Theatre’s Studio Series, launched in January 2023, fosters the creation and performance of new theatrical works. The development of an original work is both challenging and exciting. The Studio Series provides our students with invaluable learning experiences, and enriches our community by launching underrepresented voices to the stage.
Current Production
WillJee (2025, M Mary Sullivan)
January 24 – February 6, 2025
Michael Sullivan (credited as M Mary Sullivan) is a mental health nurse practitioner, children's poetry and story writer, and a playwright. He has been given the Pewter Plate Award by Highlights Magazine for contributions to children's literature, and completed a mentoring program with Tony-winner David Lindsay-Abaire through Cadence Theater. For more than twenty years, he performed children's theater (improvisational storytelling) in the New York area and then in Richmond, VA, where he currently resides. His wife Kerrigan founded the theatre program at Brightpoint Community College. They have three children together. Michael is a graduate of Brightpoint's nursing program and has not had mushrooms in a very long time.
To learn more about WillJee and for tickets, visit www.brightpoint.edu/theatre.
Past Productions
Hawks Ridge (2024, Foster Solomon)
January 26 – February 4, 2024
Adapted from the 2021 film that Foster Solomon wrote and directed, Hawks Ridge tells the story of a black, grieving ex-pastor who struggles with saving the life of the white man that killed his wife.
As a black man, partially raised in his grandfather’s church, Solomon says this story reflects his very personal feelings about love, despair, religion, and (most importantly) hope in the anxiety-filled and uncertain world we live in today.
Foster Solomon has been a Richmond writer, actor, and director for over twenty years. He wrote the one-woman show, The Penny Executive: The Maggie L. Walker Story, for the Carpenter Science Theater in 2004. It received a revival at Rowan University in 2023. His most recent writing credit was bringing Gabriel, The Musical to life at The Firehouse Theatre during the fall of 2022.
Jump Baby (2023, Rachel Landsee)
January 27 – February 5, 2023
Rachel Landsee’s writing is driven by her love for the humanities and her experience as a military attorney (eight years active, four years reserve). Her writing frequently addresses questions of war, discrimination, justice, family, and history.
In October 2021, Rachel’s one-act play Soar debuted at the Firehouse Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. Following a fellowship for U.S. military veterans, which was supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Rachel drafted Jump Baby, a full-length play loosely based on Soar. Jump Baby premiered at The Lynn Theatre from January 27 - February 5, 2023.
Music by Mark Messing.
For inquiries about The Lynn Theatre Studio Series, please contact theatreinfo@brightpoint.edu.