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    Home Outer Banks Activities Theatre of Dare Presents Greater Tuna and Much More

    Theatre of Dare Presents Greater Tuna and Much More

    By Kip Tabb
    July 25, 2026

    As the Theatre of Dare gears up for its 2026-27 season, the first play the community theater is presenting, “Greater Tuna,” is a great way to wind up a day at the beach or relax after a long day.

    Is “Greater Tuna” the greatest play ever written? Probably not, but it sure is a lot of fun, and watching just two actors, Mike Blanchard and Leah Cribb, take on 10 roles apiece, that just adds to the fun.

    Every small town has its own way of doing things, but in Tuna, Texas…well, they seem to take weird to extremes. Not weird as in scary weird. More like odd, funny, and not normal.

    Tuna, Texas, disc jockeys Thurston Wheelis and Arles Struvie at the local radio station OKKK ( and yes, the call letters are meant to be interpreted with the KKK) are fond of saying it’s a place where “If you don’t like it, leave.”

    The OKKK radio on air personalities--Thurston Wheelis (Mike Blanchard) and Arles Struvie (Leah Cribb).
    The OKKK radio on air personalities–Thurston Wheelis (Mike Blanchard) and Arles Struvie (Leah Cribb).

    It’s a place filled with characters…20 of them as it turns out, all 20 performed by those two actors, Blanchard and Cribb. Which means there are lots of costume changes, including some cross-dressing, because one of Mike’s most memorable characters is Bertha Bumiller.

    Bertha is the mother of the twins, Jody and Stanley, and Charlene (Cribb), whose dream of becoming a cheerleader has been dashed by the realization that she is a high school senior and has not made the team.

    She is a poet, though, and her poem “My Tuna” has won first prize in the town competition, giving her the chance to read it live, on air at OKKK. The poem, a paean to her love of small town life, ends with:

    But Tuna, oh my Tuna,

    Please stay just the way you are

    ‘Cause I just think the world

    Outside of Tuna is bizarre.

    Mother Bertha is doing the best she can as her life is coming apart. Stanley is home from reform school but certainly has not been reformed; Jody has a thing for dogs, with eight or ten of them following her at all times, and Charlene is having a meltdown over not making the cheerleading squad. And her husband, Hank, is a philandering alcoholic.

    Bertha Bumiller (Mike Blanchard) with her troubled son Stanley (Leah Cribb).
    Bertha Bumiller (Mike Blanchard) with her troubled son Stanley (Leah Cribb).

    She’s a member of the Smut Catchers of the New Order whose mission is to rid Tuna of controversial books. Interviewed by a reporter from “Intellect Magazine,” Bertha tells him they want to ban “Roots” because the book “only shows one side of slavery,” and Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is concerning because it shows “sex among teenagers.”

    Told by the reporter the magazine is Intellect, Bertha responds, “I don’t think we have that here.”

    There is also a dead Judge Roscoe Buckner, dressed up in a woman’s bathing suit at the time of his death, contrary to rumors that it was a bikini. And Didi Snavely(Cribb), owner of Didi’s Used Weapons, who tells radio listeners, ”If we can’t kill it, it’s immortal.”

    That’s just a few of the characters.

    If there is a favorite scene, it has to go to the eulogy the Reverend Spikes (Blanchard) delivers at Judge Buckner’s funeral. Calling on every cliched phrase and malapropism of language available, the good reverend describes the judge as a man “who took no wooden nickels nor threw caution to the wind, but looked before he leapt and never got in over his head.” This was a judge, Snipes said, that “wouldn’t fire until he saw the whites of their eyes, but whistled a happy little tune, praised God, and passed that ammunition.”

    Reverend Spikes (Mike Blanchard) delivers at Judge Roscoe Buckner’s eulogy, with Vera Carp (Leah Cribb), vice president of the Smut-Snatchers of the New Order.
    Reverend Spikes (Mike Blanchard) delivers at Judge Roscoe Buckner’s eulogy, with Vera Carp (Leah Cribb), vice president of the Smut-Snatchers of the New Order.

    The play is running now through August 17 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Theatre of Dare, 3848 North Croatan Highway in Kitty Hawk.

    If at all possible, any stay to the Outer Banks should include a visit to the Theatre of Dare. The acting is surprisingly good for community theater. Much of the material that is performed are comedies, but every once in a while they take on some heavier topics.

    Later this season, the actors will be performing “Marjorie Prime,” a 2014 play that explores what we would choose to remember if given the choice and what we could keep in our memory.

    The next play to be performed will be Kurt Vonnegut’s “Happy Birthday, Wanda June,” beginning its run on September 18.

    Before that, though, there will be a special performance of the StageWave Drama Camp students. “American History in 60” looks to be a truly unique perspective on our 250th Anniversary as a nation.

    Performances for “American History” will be on August 14, 15, and 16.

    The Theatre of Dare is a great part of what makes the Outer Banks such a fantastic place to live, work, and visit. Check out their website for more information about upcoming shows and their acting camps for young actors.