The Human Race Theatre Company is celebrating its 40th season

On Sept. 3, as the curtain fell on Dad’s Place—the Human Race Theatre Company’s opening play of the season—the applause carried beyond the play itself. It signaled the opening of the theater’s 2025–26 season and, more notably, the company’s 40th.

Founded in 1986, the Human Race Theatre Company, located in downtown Dayton, has been telling stories while entertaining Dayton audiences for four decades. As a smaller theater, Emily Wells, artistic director of the organization, says that it adds to the Dayton art scene much more than one might expect from a theater of its size.

“We are a smaller company,” Wells says. “But we have big dreams. We punch way above our weight in terms of quality of art, both on stage, in the scenery, in the lighting and in the writing.”

Wells says that this season celebrates the relationships built with the city and between those at the company, in the selection of shows. At the crux of this season is the theme of family.

“What better way to celebrate a birthday than going along with the idea of family?” Wells says. “Family can be complicated. It can be great. It can be messy. It can be challenging. We define that as the given family, chosen family, your found family.”

Dad’s Place, written by one of the theater’s in-house artists, sticks true to the theme of family. Wells says the play tells a story of “fathers and sons and the stuff that goes on between them, both literally and figuratively.”

Other productions created by local talent that highlight familial relations include the seasonal shorts. The six short productions from local playwrights showcase stories from all sorts of winter holidays (Dec. 10-21). In the New Year, another local artist’s work—Sally Mayes’s musical Contradiction of the Southern Soul —will have its world premiere (Feb. 24- March 1).

What’s more, some of the more notable productions of the year are callbacks to years prior. For example, in October the theater hosted Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really. While the idea of family may not be at the core of this production, it served as an important tribute to the theater’s opening season; Dracula was the first play ever performed at the theater.

In April, a throwback from 1924, Hay Fever by Noël Coward, will take the stage (April 8-19). Wells says that although the play is a century old, it remains as relevant as ever. “There’s a similarity between the 1920s and the 2020s in terms of some of the social change that was happening,” Wells says of her decision to do this play.

Finally, the season will conclude with The Hot Wing King, a production from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Katori Hall (June 3-14), telling the story of a gay couple and their extended family.

As the company reflects during its 40th season, Wells says the milestone is about more than the plays on stage; it’s about the theater’s enduring presence in Dayton.

“We are very lucky to have a theater that just gives you good vibes when you walk in,” she says. “It’s infused with a lot of wonderful performances over the last 40 years and I’m excited for the next 10.”