Key West The Newspaper

“It’s a really busy time of year. But this play is worth making time for. ‘Throw Me On The Burnpile And Light Me Up’ at the Key West Theater is memoir, drama and performance that held my attention for more than an hour, straight up. Years from now, we’ll be bragging to people that we saw this play, and this actress, back in the day.” This is just one of the many reviews from enthusiastic audience members who have attended this electric new play at the Key West Theater.

Written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lucy Alibar, “Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up,” blends a lecherous goat, a treacherous burnpile, Pentecostals on the radio, a clutter of inbred cats, phone calls from death row, and countless other rich ingredients into a delicious and magical stew set in the Florida panhandle. Another audience member raves: “’Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up’ combines a subtle, funny, realistic script with skillful unobtrusive direction and a transcendent performance by Dakota Mackey-McGee. The show grabs you up immediately and never lets you go for an instant. All of it, including the sound effects is blessedly professional. If you want a witty thought-provoking night in the theater get your tickets now.”

TheaterMania calls the “85 riveting minutes” of “Burnpile” “a master class in the marriage of performance and narrative.” Zachary Fine, last seen on Broadway in David Mamet’s 2015 play “China Doll,” with Al Pacino, directs “Burnpile,” which stars Equity actress Dakota Mackey-McGee in a tour-de-force performance. This is the East Coast premiere of the production and the first time it has been performed by an actress other than playwright Alibar. The play is also currently being developed as a pilot for FX.

“Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up” by Lucy Alibar, starring Dakota Mackey-McGee runs through January 14th, 2017 at the newly renovated Key West Theater at 512 Eaton Street in Old Town. For tickets, visit www.thekeywesttheater.com, or call (305) 985-0433.