Lou Tyrrell Trusted Playwrights, and Got Audiences to Do the Same

Lou Tyrrell.

In Memoriam

April 29, 2026 Deborah Zoe Laufer Leave a comment

Lou Tyrrell Trusted Playwrights, and Got Audiences to Do the Same

A writer and mentee remembers the Florida-based actor, director, and producer, who died on April 10 at the age of 75.

By Deborah Zoe Laufer

The day Lou Tyrrell’s death was announced, social media was flooded with stories about him. People wrote about his warmth, his passion for the theater, his ability to create community. And many of those tributes started with, “Lou Tyrrell gave me my first job.” That was certainly true of me.

In 2002 Lou Tyrrell gave me my first professional production as a playwright when he directed The Last Schwartz at Florida Stage. I remember walking into the theatre for the first time, where over a dozen people were busy at work on the set. Lou turned to me and said, “All those people are here because you wrote a play.” I knew that, of course, but that comment exemplified his respect for playwriting. I haven’t worked at any theatre where the work of the playwright was more honored and celebrated.

In 1987, when Lou and managing director Nan Barnett started Florida Stage (originally under the name Theater Club of the Palm Beaches, later the Pope Theatre Company), many theatres had a “new-play slot.” But Florida Stage, as its mission statement put it, was “the Southeast’s only professional theatre exclusively dedicated to the production of new American plays.” In its 24 years of existence , the theatre produced over 150 new works! It takes real courage to offer season after season of untested plays. People usually like to know what they’re getting into when they buy a ticket. But Lou developed a trust with his audience. They knew that their response to new work, even if it was a draft or two away from completion, was contributing to the play’s development and its future. A future Lou and Nan helped insure: Before The Last Schwartz closed, they got on the phone with artistic directors around the country, securing its next several productions. (Nan went on to be executive director of the National New Play Network , continuing their mission of supporting new work.)

Lou was my mentor. He taught me that you can lead with kindness and generosity and make something extraordinary. He produced three of my plays at Florida Stage, and I was down there nearly every year hearing my latest work read at one of their new-play festivals.

Lou believed in the playwright, not just the play, and took wild chances on some risky work. In 2003, through NNPN, Florida Stage commissioned me to write a play about the Gulf War as it was happening. And they scheduled the production when I only had a few scenes written. It was a frenzied, white-knuckle affair, since much of the play was truly ripped from the daily headlines. The Gulf of Westchester ends with George W. Bush saying, “Mission accomplished” on that aircraft carrier, not long after he said it. Some donors bristled at the politics of the play—one stormed out saying they’d never give another penny to the theatre. I felt terrible about it, but Lou said, “We’re hitting a nerve! We’re doing the work!”

Lou was a producer, director, actor, teacher. But most of all he was a visionary. He founded three South Florida theatres: Florida Stage, Arts Garage , and Theatre Lab . Theatre Lab began with festivals of staged readings, where renowned playwrights came to teach and lead workshops. In 2016, Lou and Matt Stabile, who went on to be Lou’s successor as artistic director, decided to produce their first full production, my play, The Three Sisters of Weehawken . For some crazy reason they insisted that I direct it myself, though I’d never directed before. They helped me and guided me and encouraged me, and I went on to direct three more of my plays there, as well as at many other theatres. Lou’s belief in me, greater than my belief in myself, once again changed my life and career.

For 25 years Lou and his wife Kathleen have been family to me. Lou’s cooking was legendary, and they were always gathering people to their home, which they share with at least half a dozen rescue dogs. Lou built community. The people he brought into my life are lifelong friends. (Beth Dimon has acted in seven of my plays!)

I’m shocked and gutted that Lou is gone. I saw him shortly before his death, and he was his usual vibrant, energetic, joyful self. Full of plans. Full of humor. Full of life. The week of Lou’s death, Matt Stabile was launching the second Owl New Play Festival at Theatre Lab. Two weeks of over 30 events of new work at every stage of development: full productions, readings, academic lectures, workshops. Matt dedicated the festival to Lou, and there couldn’t have been a more fitting tribute. A new musical of mine was part of the festival, and I was so grateful to be down there, surrounded by all the people who love him. I can’t believe he’s not there. But the legacy that he built and the people whose lives he changed are everywhere.

Deborah Zoe Laufer is an award-winning playwright, librettist, lyricist, screenwriter, director, and standup comic. She’s had hundreds of productions of her work around the world. DeborahZoeLaufer.com

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