The Driveway Theatre Project (DTP) brings a new kind of block party to neighborhoods throughout Greater Gainesville!
The way it works is simple: UFPA teams up with community members like you to bring together friends and neighbors around a performance in driveways, backyards, community centers, and even places of business. You provide the space and invite the people, we provide the magic of performance. Whether it’s bringing actors, musicians, dancers, or all three, we will work with you to figure out the most appropriate performance type for your gathering.
The DTP will be an effort that meets people where they are both geographically and socially, providing performances at no cost and removing many of the boundaries that hinder folks from attending performances inside our venues.
But providing no cost performances and removing these boundaries is a serious undertaking, and to realize the full potential of DTP we will need your support.
How to Host
If you are interested in hosting a Driveway Theatre Project event, please fill out this form and we will add you to the list of potential hosts. A few things to know about hosting:
- There has been a tremendous response to the Driveway Theatre Project. We are still accepting applications for hosts, but ask for patience as we continue to grow this program.
- We need hosts from all over! To us, DTP will not be a success unless our performances reach out to every corner of Gainesville. We want to engage with our neighbors to the East, West, North, South, and even in surrounding communities.
- Host requirements are minimal. The beauty of DTP is that it can happen nearly anywhere. Hosts will be required to provide ample space for performers and audience, and minimal power for microphones and speakers. That’s it!
Current Offerings
This “menu” of performances will continue to evolve as we develop DTP.
Treasure Island
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson
Adapted by Derek Wohlust
PG | 1 hour
The legendary classic of the high seas performed as a radio play transforms Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure into a vivid, sound-driven experience. Listeners follow Jim’s journey from the Admiral Benbow Inn to the high seas aboard the Hispaniola, encountering unforgettable characters like the cunning Long John Silver. The radio format heightens suspense and imagination, using music and atmospheric audio to capture the mystery, danger, and excitement of piracy and adventure on the open sea.
Passion Dey Couldn’t Steal: The Zora Neale Hurston Story
Written & Performed by Pamela Marshal
Historical Fiction
PG | 1 hour
Passion Dey Couldn’t Steal: The Zora Neale Hurston Story is a sweeping one-woman show by Pamela D. Marshall that brings to life the fire, wit, and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston. Blending song, monologue, and ancestral invocation, Marshall embodies three influential women—Hurston herself; her mother, Lucy Potts-Hurston; and author Alice Walker—to trace a spiritual lineage of Black women who refused silence.
The 39 Steps
Adapted & Directed by Derek Wohlust
Mystery/Thriller | PG | 45 minutes
From the shadowy alleys of London to the misty moors of Scotland, The 39 Steps is a rip-roaring tale of danger, deception, and daring escape! When a mild-mannered Richard Hannay finds himself tangled in a deadly web of spies and secrets, it’s a race against time to clear his name—and stop a sinister plot that threatens national security! With a mysterious woman’s dying words, a coded map, and the ominous whisper of “The 39 Steps,” this thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat! Adapted from the Lux Radio Theatre Production originally broadcast 12/13/37.
The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (one-act)
Written by Don Zolidis
Directed by: Derek Wohlust
PG | 1 hour
A wild, free-form comedy with lots of audience participation and madcap fun. Two narrators attempt to recreate as many of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm as they can in a wild, fast-paced extravaganza. To make it more difficult, they attempt to combine them into one gigantic fable using Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and other more obscure stories like Lean Lisa and Faithful Johannes.
Fannie Lou Hamer’s America
Directed by Carol Richardson
PG | 45 minutes
Fannie Lou Hamer’s America is a portrait of a civil rights activist and the injustices in America that made her work essential. Through public speeches, personal interviews, and powerful songs of the fearless Mississippi sharecropper-turned-human-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America explores and celebrates the lesser-known life of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s greatest leaders.
Dracula
Written by Bram Stoker
Adapted & Directed by: Derek Wohlust
PG | 50 minutes
Driveway Theatre Project proudly presents the legendary tale of Count Dracula, re-vamped as a live radio play! Join our cast as they tell the tale of the most famous of all vampires!
The Maltese Falcon – Live Radio Play
Written by: Dashiell Hammett
Adapted & Directed by: Derek Wohlust
PG | 50 minutes
Detective Sam Spade gets more than he bargained for when he takes a case brought to him by a beautiful but secretive woman. As soon as Miss Wonderly shows up, trouble follows as Sam’s partner is murdered and Sam is accosted by a man demanding he locate a valuable statuette. Sam, entangled in a dangerous web of crime and intrigue, soon realizes he must find the one thing they all seem to want: the bejeweled Maltese Falcon.
An Evening with Frederick Douglass and Captain John Brown
Adapted from William Branch’s “In Splendid Error”
& Directed by: Carol Velasques
PG | 30 minutes followed by talkback
Director Carol Velasques has put together a searing dramatic history lesson to reveal the complex friendship, struggle, and heroism of two comrades in the fight to free the slaves, called it simply An Evening with Two Abolitionists, and coupled with a talk-back to engage the audience in a discussion of issues that simply could not be more pressing – Race and Freedom.
And more coming soon! Stay tuned for future updates.
Help us pave the way!
The Driveway Theatre Project is made possible through the generous support of our donors. Please consider making a gift today to ensure we can continue bringing performances to driveways across Greater Gainesville.
For additional information about the Driveway Theatre Project, please email us at driveway@performingarts.ufl.edu.
