OKEECHOBEE – Okeechobee Community Theatre opened their 2026/2027 season on Sept. 25 with an emotional drama that tackles the difficult issue of mental illness.

The story takes place in the back garden of the Chicago home of  a retired professor.

Twenty-five-year-old Catherine has put off college to spend years caring for her brilliant but mentally unstable father, Robert.  Following his death, she struggles with grief, uncertainty about her own future, and the lingering fear that while she has inherited his mathematical brilliance, she may have also inherited his mental instability.

When one of Robert's former students discovers a groundbreaking mathematical proof among his papers, questions arise about its true author, forcing Catherine to confront issues of trust, identity, love, and the fine line between genius and madness.

Kendra Henderson gives a heartbreaking performance as Catherine, struggling with self-doubt and devastated that the people she cares for most don’t treat her as an equal.

Harry Moldenhauer plays Robert with a charming vulnerability.

Family relationships are at the heart of the story. Catherine has given up her own dreams to care for her beloved father, and resents her sister Claire (played by Reyna Reynoso) for not being there to help. Claire has worked to support the family – living in a tiny apartment in New York while paying the mortgage on the family home in Chicago – and resents Catherine’s refusal to let her institutionalize their mentally ill father.

Christopher Garner plays Harold “Hal” Dobbs, Robert’s protégé who becomes Catherine’s love interest as well as her intellectual rival. 

The four characters draw the audience in to the emotional story.

The play opened Sept. 25. Performances are set for Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 3  at 2 p.m. Tickets and season passes are available now. For tickets or more information, visit Okeechobee Community Theatre’s website at www.okeechobeecommunitytheatre.com. Tickets are also available at the box office 30 minutes before the performance.

Cast includes:

Production director: Louise Chandler.

Co-director/Lights/Set: Tina Welborn.

Stage manager/sound: Laura Murray.

Stage right: Evan Maples.

Stage left: Lillian Stephenson.