Stephen Sachs<\/a>, a razor-sharp and unexpectedly moving two-person showdown inspired by true events. Directed by\u00a0Mark Perry, the production runs\u00a0April 16\u201326, 2026, with performances Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfad NEW! Central New York Theatre Newsletter<\/p>\n
\n Get all the top news & discounts for Central New York & beyond.\n <\/p>\n
When Maude Gutman, an unemployed bartender living in a California trailer park, buys a painting at a thrift store for a few dollars, she becomes convinced it may be a long-lost\u00a0Jackson Pollock\u00a0worth millions. Enter Lionel Percy, a world-renowned New York art expert, who arrives expecting to debunk her claim \u2014 and instead finds himself pulled into a volatile, hilarious, and unexpectedly personal showdown.<\/p>\n
What begins as a question of authenticity erupts into a fierce and often hilarious battle over class, credibility, and the right to be believed \u2014 a collision between lived experience and institutional authority, instinct and expertise, and the deeply human need to be seen, valued, and taken seriously.<\/p>\n
By turns laugh-out-loud funny and quietly devastating,\u00a0\u201cBakersfield Mist\u201d\u00a0explores who gets to define worth \u2014 in art, in life, and in one another. With its razor-sharp dialogue and emotional depth, the play has earned international acclaim.\u00a0Vanity Fair\u00a0called it \u201cNot to be missed,\u201d while\u00a0The New York Times\u00a0described it as \u201ca battle of wits.\u201d\u00a0The Los Angeles Times\u00a0hailed it as \u201ca perfect marriage of emotion and ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opening Bridge Street Theatre\u2019s 2026 MainStage season, \u201cBakersfield Mist\u201d sets the tone for a year of bold, intimate storytelling centered on the deeply human need to be seen \u2014 and what happens when that need is denied, challenged, or finally fulfilled.<\/p>\n
Performance Schedule<\/p>\n
April 16\u201326, 2026
\nThursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:00pm
\nSundays at 2:00pm<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udfad NEW! Central New York Theatre Newsletter Get all the top news & discounts for Central New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-244121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}