Lindsey Wilson University Theatre to Present 'Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars' Nov. 19-22
Latest play by John Cariani follows 14 characters on one summer night in Northern Maine.
COLUMBIA, Ky. (11/11/2026) — The bigness of everyday life in small places will take center stage in the next production by the Lindsey Wilson University Department of Theatre when John Cariani's "Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars" is presented.
"Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars" will be performed Nov. 19-22 at V.P. Henry Auditorium.
"Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars" is Cariani's fifth play, and it's the third of what has become his Maine seasonal quartet. "Last Gas" is set during the spring, and "Almost, Maine," which has also been produced at Lindsey Wilson, is set in the dead of winter. ("Love/Sick" is the other Cariani play to have been staged at Lindsey Wilson.)
"Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars" is about 14 young adults on an August night in Northern Maine during the annual Perseid meteor shower. The interconnected short vignettes take place around 9 p.m. on Aug. 12 in a fictionalized version of Cariani's hometown, Presque Isle, Maine, which is about 12 miles from the Canadian border and more than 160 miles from the closest American Starbucks.
Unlike "Almost, Maine," which is full of quirky and surreal moments, "Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars" has less exaggeration and is more straightforward in its storytelling.
"The quirkiness is gone, but just like in Cariani's other plays, it's about connection," said Lindsey Wilson theatre professor Robert Brock, who is directing the play. "There's really a lot happening in this play."
Although Cariani may have dialed down the quirkiness in "Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars," he has infused the play with lots of hope.
"Things go into darkness and not everything works out, but there is always a light of hope in all of these stories," said Brock. "And I think that's a great message for people today."
Lindsey Wilson student Aidyn Weingartner '29 plays 19-year-old Lily who has some "big stuff" going on in her life, and she has difficult news to share with her brother, Derek.
Weingartner, who is also 19, said she was not familiar with Cariani before being cast for the Lindsey Wilson production, but she said she has found "Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars" to be "a beautiful play."
"The writing is beyond interesting," said Weingartner, who is a business administration major from Shelbyville, Kentucky. "It's something I've never seen or experienced before."
Brandon Grider '28, who portrays two characters in the play, is also newcomer to Cariani's work, both as an actor and as an audience member.
"His writing is so uniquely human compared to a lot of the things I've done," said Grider, a theatre and arts administration major from Columbia. "The writing is so down to earth, and it's definitely different from what I am accustomed to."
Full of heart and humor, "Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars" is also distinctive for being set in rural America, which is not a common setting for many of today's new plays. Moments of the play are even reminiscent of Thorton Wilder's "Our Town," another story set in a small New England town.
"Everybody will recognize people they know, recognize themselves and recognize their daily life," said Brock. "Everyday life is big, and that's what Cariani gets so well in his writing and in his storytelling. In reality, there's big stuff going on in this play because there are human beings, and human beings have big stuff going on all the time."
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"Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars," directed by Robert Brock
Cast
* Teddy: Luca Baerg '29 of Columbia
* Shay: Odette Park '30 of South Korea
* Sam: Leona Smith '29 of Coxs Creek, Kentucky
* Casey: LeBron Barroso '29 of Elizabethtown, Kentucky
* Carley: Anna Kate Alexander '29 of Glasgow, Kentucky
* Jared: Cade Ramsey '27 of Russell Springs, Kentucky
* Marty: Brandon Grider '28 of Columbia
* Scott: LeBron Barroso '29 of Elizabethtown, Kentucky
* Derek: Cade Ramsey '27 of Russell Springs, Kentucky
* Lily: Aidyn Weingartner '29 of Shelbyville, Kentucky
* Tiffany: McKenzie Melton '29 of Lily, Kentucky
* Mark: Brandon Grider '28 of Columbia
* Gwen: Kieran Anderson '30 of Franklin, Kentucky
* Renee: McKenzie Melton '29 of Lily, Kentucky
The Lindsey Wilson University Theatre Department will perform the musical "Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars" at 7 p.m. CT Nov. 19-21 and at 2 p.m. CT Nov. 22 in V.P. Henry Auditorium. For ticket information, go to lindsey.edu/theatre or contact the Lindsey Wilson Theatre Department at theatre@lindsey.edu or 270-384-8044.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, six graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
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Lindsey Wilson University student Cade Ramsey ’27 of Russell Springs, Kentucky, rehearses a scene from “Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars” with Aidyn Weingartner ’29 of Shelbyville, Kentucky, left, and Anna Kate Alexander ’29 of Glasgow, Kentucky.