HARTFORD—Theatergoers have traveled across time and diverse lands throughout TheaterWorks Hartford’s 40th season, and the last stop is a West Texan ghost town with a meaningful and darkly comic story to share.
The world premiere production of “The Cannibals of McGower County” by Drew Larimore will run from July 30 to August 30, 2026. This introduction to Larimore’s Southern Gothic Trilogy follows two veteran salvagers as they explore an abandoned barbecue restaurant and encounter a surprising guest.
“In The Cannibals — as is the case in much of Southern gothic work — beauty and rot exist in the same breath,” commented playwright Drew Larimore. “This play is the beginning of a linked trilogy about the South and more specifically, misguided Southern matriarchs. It’s a homecoming for me as a writer. I don’t just find solace not only in its cadence and humor, but also an unapologetic pride of their reckoning and the wreckage left in the wake.”
TheaterWorks Hartford welcomes back Annalee Jefferies and Constance Shulman to its stage with this haunting production. The cast also includes Gus Birney and Edward Hoke, who are making their TWH debut.
Director Jen Wineman shared that, “the thing that drew me to The Cannibals of McGower County is the same thing that draws me to all of Drew Larimore’s writing: the way he depicts complicated women—particularly southern women—in all of their imperfect glory. Cannibals is a freight train of a play. It leaves the station at 100 miles an hour and doesn’t stop until it hurtles to its shocking conclusion.”
The creative team for The Cannibals of McGower County includes Tim Mackabee on set design, Alejo Vietti on costume design, Jiyoun Chang on lighting design, Bailey Trielweiler on sound design, J. Jared Janas on wig design, Lauren Marina as props lead, and pau as stage manager.
Learn more about the performance and purchase tickets at twhartford.org or by calling the box office at 860-527-7838. Tickets range from $25 to $70. The show runs for approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
Publisher’s Notes: CT Latino News is proud to partner with TheaterWorks Hartford in supporting the state’s Arts and Culture.