Chad Hembree writes stories for the stage from his home in Berea, Kentucky. A bluegrass playwright in the fullest sense — his work is rooted in the community that produces it, shaped by the actors who bring it to life, and told in a town where the theater is as much a part of the landscape as the hills around it.
His catalog spans original dinner mysteries where the audience becomes the detective, classic adaptations that transplant Dickens, Stoker, Carroll, and Alcott into a Bluegrass setting, radio dramas built for the ear, and a holiday revue that scales from eight performers to forty. Every work is written for the stage first — for a specific company, a specific venue, a specific audience that shows up night after night.
Chad leads the Bluegrass Players, the adult community theater troupe that produces his work at The Spotlight Playhouse in Berea. He also owns and operates the Playhouse itself, runs the Spotlight Acting School, and has been publishing local news at BereaOnline.com since 1995. The 2026 AACT Spotlight Award from the American Association of Community Theatre recognizes a career of building theater in the Bluegrass — writing, producing, and directing for a community that tells stories together.
Where the Work Lives
- The Bluegrass Players — the community theater troupe that produces these works
- The Spotlight Playhouse — the venue in Berea, Kentucky
- ChadHembree.com — the personal site: director, publisher, community builder