Murfreesboro resident Kyle R. Thomas is no newcomer to the New York City theater scene. In 2022, his monologue play Portrait of a Young Man made it to the Rogue Theater Festival in NYC. This year, once again, Thomas was one of the playwrights selected for a performance on Theatre Row in Manhattan.

Some involved with the Murfreesboro Little Theatre (MLT) accompanied Thomas to New York for the June 13 performance of his newest published play, This House Is Not a Home.

“This year a full-length play of his has been chosen,” said MLT’s Shane Lowery of MLT, who co-directed the show, prior to leaving for the Big Apple. “And MLT is producing it, tossing the set in the back of my pickup, and hauling it Off-Broadway to Theatre Row on 42nd Street.”

Thomas said he was proud to share the festival selection with the Murfreesboro Little Theatre team.

“I am so excited that they are getting to go along on this wild adventure with me!” the playwright said.

Following the Rogue Theater Festival appearance, Thomas and MLT also plans to present the work in Murfreesboro this August.

This House Is Not a Home tells the story of a shoe repair shop that is one of the last of its kind.

“The owner leads a quiet existence until it is upended by the return of the son of his late business partner. The son returns and is looking for work . . . and answers,” according to the play’s synopsis. “These two men know so much and yet so little about one another. The son wants to know more about his father, and the nature of his exit from the business. The owner is reluctant to share, for reasons that become painfully clear. Not all seams can be stitched back together.”

Regarding the performance of This House Is Not a Home in June on Theatre Row in New York City, Thomas told the Pulse: “The actors did a phenomenal job, and the audience was alert and receptive and altogether excellent. It was a fantastic experience, and I am so honored that I was able to share this opportunity with Shane and everyone associated with the incredible Murfreesboro Little Theatre team.”

In This House Is Not a Home, Alec Lanter stars as Old and Jack Seage as Young. Shane Lowery and Britt Penevolpe directed the play, produced by Emma Hawkins.

Murfreesboro Little Theatre now plans two local performances showcasing the original work. The first performance will be held at the Walnut House, 116 N. Walnut St., on Saturday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. The second will be held at Oaklands Mansion, 900 N. Maney Ave., on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m.

For more information, stay tuned to mltarts.com.

Kyle Thomas, a native of Shelbyville, Tennessee, has been a Murfreesboro resident for the past 20 years. When he isn’t at his day job, Marelli Automotive Systems in Shelbyville, he is writing screenplays and theater pieces. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Kyle majored in communications and minored in theater. He said has been chasing this dream his whole life, and is thrilled that his career writing stage plays has recently come to fruition.

“I have another play, titled Clocks Are Like Angels, that has been selected as a finalist in the Appalachian Playwriting Festival in North Carolina,” Thomas said. “There will be staged readings of the finalist plays in September . . . I have also been asked to conduct a playwriting workshop.”