Press Release
Producers of the 2025 hit “Gabriel” Return to Hanover Tavern with “Grace & Glorie”
ATLAS Partnership’s production of the Virginia-created modern American classic stars two of Richmond’s most beloved performers
RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond’s only play to make the leap to off-Broadway, “Grace & Glorie,” is being revived by ATLAS Partnership (ATLAS) at the Historic Hanover Tavern (Tavern) Oct. 9 to Nov. 8. 2026. Written by Virginia playwright Tom Ziegler, this production stars Richmond favorites Catherine Shaffner and Amber Marie Martinez and is directed by Julie Fulcher-Davis.
Founded by longtime artistic and managerial leaders of the Richmond theatre community who were named among Style Weekly’s “100 Most Influential Richmonders of the 20th Century,” ATLAS returns to the Tavern following 2025’s run of “Gabriel.” Both productions fulfill their mission of giving new life to the foundational assets of professional theatre in Central Virginia.
“Grace & Glorie” is a tale of friendship. Grace, a 90-year-old with terminal cancer, returns home from the hospital to her century-old cabin deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains determined to live out her final days in the rustic environs she loves. Glorie, a Harvard MBA who has recently left the pressures of New York hoping to find peace in Appalachia, volunteers for her local hospice program. Her first client is Grace. What begins as an oil-and-water confrontation evolves into a rich and abiding sisterhood, where each woman ultimately finds her home.
“What makes ‘Grace & Glorie’ such an enormous crowd-pleaser is the vibrant combination of warm-hearted humor and compelling drama,” said director Julie Fulcher-Davis. “It’s a perfect play for girls’ night out, but it’s equally enjoyed by men and teens, all of whom have mothers. With this wonderful cast, we’re proud to be bringing this off-Broadway hit back to the city that gave it birth.”
In 1991, “Grace & Glorie” was co-produced in Richmond by TheatreVirginia and ShenanArts Theatre. The play advanced to off-Broadway in 1996, starring Estelle Parsons and Lucie Arnaz, and was adapted into a movie with Gena Rowlands and Diane Lane in 1998.
This production’s cast may be familiar to audiences. In film and television, Shaffner appeared in “The Contender” and “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.” At the Tavern, she starred in the Virginia Rep productions of “The Game’s Afoot: Holmes for the Holidays” (2018), “Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End” (2018), “Miracle on South Division Street” (2017), “Steel Magnolias” (2013), and “Nunsense” (2010-11) — the latter two under the artistic direction of ATLAS’ Bruce Miller. Shaffner is now an adjunct theatre professor at the University of Richmond.
Martinez’s resume includes leading roles in “The Great Gatsby” (Quill Theatre at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2020), “A Doll’s House” (TheatreLAB, 2018), and “Desire Under the Elms” (Firehouse Theatre, 2017). She began her wide-ranging voiceover career with Radio Disney and has been on the theatre faculty at VCU for 12 years.
For tickets, visit atlaspartnership.org/gg. For dinner reservations, call the Tavern at 804-537-5050.
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Media Contact
Brad Tuggle
RVA Arts
brad@rvaarts.com
804-399-5513
About ATLAS Partnership
A nonprofit organization founded in 2023, ATLAS Partnership is a home for the incredible theatre heritage of the Central Virginia region where time-tested programs get a new life for new audiences. A gateway to preserving the precious and irreplaceable theatre assets of the region for generations to come, ATLAS’ mission is “to recognize and respect, honor and preserve the foundational assets of professional theatre in Central Virginia.”
The History of Theatre at Hanover Tavern
Dating back to 1791, Hanover Tavern has time and again been part of our nation’s history. In 1953, six New York City actors purchased the Tavern and established Barksdale Theatre, greater Richmond’s first professional performing arts organization of the modern era, and one of the first regional theatres in America. In 1954, to attract patrons from throughout metro Richmond, they started America’s first dinner theatre.
