Fires, Ohio
Hertz Stage
Best enjoyed by audiences 16 and up. Contains explicit language; depicts smoking and drinking; addresses mature content related to sex & sexuality.
World Premiere
Kendeda Winner
A timely family drama inspired by the classic, Uncle Vanya.
By Beth Hyland
As wildfires rage closer and closer to a small Ohio college town, the mopey grown children and second wife of a sort-of-mediocre professor are threatened by another kind of crisis: a visit from a family friend that threatens to bring all of their tensions to a towering inferno. Now, each of them will be forced to choose: stay and smolder, or leave and burn? Inspired by the classic family drama Uncle Vanya, FIRES, OHIO updates a beloved story for our painfully absurd present, taking a hilarious and heartfelt look at the natural (and personal) disasters that transform our everyday lives. In addition to winning the 22nd annual Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, FIRES, OHIO has been awarded the Kennedy Center's Paula Vogel Award and the Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting.
Tickets start at $31 (including taxes and fees).
Hertz Stage
The Alliance Theatre's Hertz Stage is a modern, 200-seat Black Box theatre. This versatile facility accommodates a number of distinct stage layouts.
Writer
Beth Hyland is a playwright and screenwriter based in Southern California. Her play Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia will receive its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in February 2026, directed by Jo Bonney. Her play Fires, Ohio was the winner of the 2025 Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Prize and will receive its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in March 2026. She is the 2024 recipient of the L. Arnold Weissberger Prize and Jay Harris New Play Commission and a two-time recipient of the Kennedy Center's KCACTF Mark Twain Award for Comic Playwriting. She currently holds commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Rivendell Theatre. Her plays and musicals include Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia (Geffen Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Fires, Ohio (Alliance Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Goodman Theatre, The Story Theatre), Cancelina (Wagner New Play Festival, Baby Teeth, Bramble Theatre), Baby Shower Katie (Round House Theatre), Seagulls (The Sound at Steppenwolf LookOut, Octagon Bolton, Oak Park Festival Theatre), and Clearing (Commission Theatre, A Short Leap). She is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at UC San Diego under the mentorship of Naomi Iizuka and Deborah Stein. She is represented by Jamie Kaye-Phillips at Paradigm and Benjamin Blake and Anthony Ippolito at Heroes and Villains Entertainment.
Beth Hyland
Playwright
Beth Hyland is a playwright and screenwriter based in Southern California. Her play Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia will receive its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in February 2026, directed by Jo Bonney. Her play Fires, Ohio was the winner of the 2025 Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Prize and will receive its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in March 2026. She is the 2024 recipient of the L. Arnold Weissberger Prize and Jay Harris New Play Commission and a two-time recipient of the Kennedy Center's KCACTF Mark Twain Award for Comic Playwriting. She currently holds commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Rivendell Theatre. Her plays and musicals include Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia (Geffen Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Fires, Ohio (Alliance Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Goodman Theatre, The Story Theatre), Cancelina (Wagner New Play Festival, Baby Teeth, Bramble Theatre), Baby Shower Katie (Round House Theatre), Seagulls (The Sound at Steppenwolf LookOut, Octagon Bolton, Oak Park Festival Theatre), and Clearing (Commission Theatre, A Short Leap). She is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at UC San Diego under the mentorship of Naomi Iizuka and Deborah Stein. She is represented by Jamie Kaye-Phillips at Paradigm and Benjamin Blake and Anthony Ippolito at Heroes and Villains Entertainment.
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