Our plays at the Catherine Hickman Theater:
Catherine Hickman Theater
The Gulfport Community Players perform their main season plays at the Catherine A. Hickman Theater. Although it is named after the Players' founder, it is OWNED and OPERATED by the City of Gulfport. If you have questions about non-Gulfport Community Players events, you must contact the City of Gulfport.
November 13-23, 2025 - "Sex Please, We're Sixty"
Auditions Sept 8-9, 7PM at the Back Door Theater, Olga Kruse, Director.
Mrs. Stancliffe's Rose Cottage Bed & Breakfast has been successful for many years. Her guests (nearly all women) return year after year. Her next-door neighbor, the elderly, silver-tongued "Bud the Stud" Davis, believes they come to spend time with him in romantic liasons. The prim and proper Mrs. Stancliffe steadfastly denies this but really doesn't do anything to prevent it. She reluctantly accepts the fact that "Bud the Stud" is, in fact, good for business. Her other neighbor and would-be suitor, Henry Mitchell, is a retired chemist who has developed a blue pill called "Venusia," after Venus the goddess of love, to increase the libido of menopausal women. The pill has not been tested. Add to the guest list three older women: Victoria Ambrose, a romance novelist whose personal life seems to be lacking in romance; Hillary Hudson, a friend of Henry's who has agreed to test the Venusia; and Charmaine Beauregard, a "Southern Belle" whose libido does not need to be increased. Bud gets his hands on some of the Venusia pills, and the fun begins as he attempts to entertain all three women. The women mix up Bud's Viagra pills with the Venusia, and we soon discover that is has a strange effect on men: it gives them all the symptoms of menopausal women, complete with hot flashes, mood swings, weeping, and irritability! When the mayhem settles down, all the women find their lives moving in new and surprising directions. .
January 8-18, 2026 - "Beyond Therapy"
Auditions October 27-28, 7 PM at the Back Door Theater, Roseanne Olszewski, Director
Prudence and Bruce are two Manhattanites looking for love, stability, and sanity. On the advice of his therapist, Bruce places a personal ad in the newspaper; on the advice of HER therapist, Prudence answers it. At first, it seems as though the two couldn't be less suited to each other: Prudence is a perfectionist, cautious and closed off from the world, while Bruce, who lives with his jealous lover, Bob, is emotional and spontaneous. But fate (and their therapists) continue to bring the two together. Much to their surprise, Prudence and Bruce find they might actually like each other. Can they survive neurosis, jealousy, and their crazy therapists? Christopher Durang's off-the-wall comedy, is a hilarious exploration of finding love in the modern world and accepting the little bit of crazy in all of us.
March 12-22, 2026 - "Quartet"
Auditions January 19-20, 7 PM at the Back Door Theater, Mike Nower, Director
Quartet by Ronald Harwood is a play set in a retirement home for musicians. It centers on four opera singers, once a celebrated quartet, who reunite to perform a concert celebrating Verdi's birthday. The arrival of Jean, a former star and Reginald's ex-wife, disrupts the established dynamics and stirs up old rivalries and unresolved feelings. The play explores themes of aging, forgiveness, love, and friendship, culminating in a bittersweet performance.where the quartet lip-syncs to their past recording.
June 11-21, 2026 - "End of the Rainbow"
Auditions April 6-7, 7PM at the Back Door Theater, Myles Thoroughgood, Director
It's Christmas 1968, with a six week booking at London's Talk of the Town, it looks like Judy Garland is set firmly on the comeback trail. The failed marriages, the suicide attempts, and the addictions are all behind her. At forty-six and with new flame Mickey Deans at her side, she seems determined to carry it all off and recapture her magic. But lasting happiness always eludes some people, and there was never any answer to the question with which Judy Garland ended every show. "If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh, why, can't I?" End of the Rainbow is a savagely funny drama featuring a glorious ensemble of Judy Garland's hits and infused with the glamour and the melancholy of stardom. Every note she sings, every racket she makes, every tear she sheds, every joke she cracks, every pill she pops, is conveyed with alarming honesty.
July 9-19, 2026 - Summer One Act Competition
Auditions May 25-26, 7 PM at the Back Door Theater
Original short-plays chosen from hundreds of submissions. Comedies, light dramas.
Audience gets to vote for their favorites.