Kenai community theater produces nationally selected play

Published 5:30 pm Wednesday, May 20, 2026

A new mystery-slash-ghost story is set to appear upon a Kenai community theater stage later this summer.

The Kenai Performers are one of six theaters nationwide selected to produce a winning play from the American Association of Community Theaters’ NewPlayFest. Casting is complete and rehearsals are underway for “Mystery at the Black Dog Tavern,” written by Virginia playwright Christopher Hencke and directed by Phil Morin. The show will open in its worldwide premiere on July 31.

The play is set in 1840s Virginia and stages the mystery of the death of Colonel Cornelius Hackett. Kenai Performers volunteer Jodene McAuliffe described the plot in more detail in an interview last week with the Clarion.

“Seven years ago, Colonel Cornelius Hackett was murdered right down the street from the Black Dog Tavern, and his treasure box was stolen. Every year on the anniversary of his death, his ghostly visage comes back to the tavern — and this is that night,” she said.

The script includes 10 characters, which McAuliffe said gave Kenai Performers the opportunity to have more people from the local community be involved in the show.

“It’s perfect for our space,” she said.

The Kenai Performers are a member of AACT, which every two years puts out a call for new plays and a call for theaters willing to produce them.

McAuliffe said that there were initially 1,500 new plays submitted for the competition that took place two years ago, when Kenai Performers applied to produce a winning play. That number was whittled down to 14, and those 14 scripts were submitted to the selected theaters to choose from in February 2025.

“The process then is we read the plays and we choose our top four, and the other six producing theaters choose their top four, and then that all goes back (to AACT), and the top six plays are chosen and assigned to the six theaters,” McAuliffe said.

The play selection process was overall a bit of a gamble, but the Kenai Performers ultimately hit the jackpot — “Mystery at the Black Dog Tavern” happened to be their first choice.

“We’re very fortunate, we’re very happy with the play that we got,” McAuliffe said.

The show will run for two weekends: Friday through Sunday, July 31 through Aug. 2 and Aug. 7-9. Sunday show times are matinees from 2-4 p.m.

In addition to the regular show, McAuliffe said that Kenai Performers will bring Hencke himself, along with an AACT dramaturg, to Kenai in early July for a three-day workshop.

“We’ll take three days to work on the play with (Hencke) and fine-tune things … it’s just a very exciting thing to be on the beginning of developing a play like this,” McAuliffe said.

The theater organization will also bring Hencke back to Kenai for the play’s opening weekend, and will host an event on Aug. 2 with the playwright and representatives from both AACT and Dramatic Publishing.

“It’s a real feather in the cap of the Kenai Peninsula,” McAuliffe said.

Details about “Mystery at the Black Dog Tavern” will be available soon on the Kenai Performers website.

Find the Kenai Performers online at kenaiperformers.org or on Facebook. Their theater is located at 44045 Kalifornsky Beach Road in Soldotna.

Cast of “Mystery at Black Dog Tavern”

LOUISA PUTNAM — Lara Dillinger Lindeman

CLARA PUTNAM — Moriah Stitt

LIZZIE MCBRIDE — Terri Burdick

CHARLOTTE PENDLETON — Robyn Chai

FANNY BROWN — Hannah Warren-Bell

RUFUS WEAVER — Terry Lindeman

JOHNNY METCALF — Logan Parks

TOM JARVIS — Tony Mika

SIMON MOORE — Spencer McAuliffe

COLONEL CORNELIUS HACKETT — Mike Gallagher