Key West has long been absurdly fortunate in its theater offerings, punching way above its weight for a small town. The combination of talented locals who choose to live here and generous patrons who spend winters here and support theater companies leads to some productions that you would be happy to see on almost any stage in America.

Brandon Beach in Locura. Photo by Mike Marrero.

Now there's something new under our sun. On The Rock Productions was founded by New York theater veterans Juliet Gray and Landon Bradbary and Key West native photographer/artist/director Mike Marrero. They are bringing locally written pieces to a new island stage, at the Key West Community Theater on Eaton Street. Their first production is called Bones & Pie.

If you are in or near Key West and you are interested in local culture, theater, history or creative endeavor, you should go see this production. It's five short plays, ranging from a quick sketch to a piece that my husband Mark called a "cuzzy bubba tour de force." He meant that as a compliment, and it's so deserving.

In recent years, the summer One Night Stand theater project at The Studios of Key West and the 72-Hour Film Challenge at the Tropic Cinema have shown what local talent can do, and the audiences have been appreciative. And sold out -- in the depths of summer. Now that same spirit is getting more sustained wintertime attention and the results are impressive on just about every level. Two highlights for me: "The Nightwatchman" by Eric Weinberger, performed as a monologue by Chad Newman. Wow. If he dropped or flubbed a line I sure couldn't tell and my attention was held the entire time. (I have a short attention span.) The other was the finale, "Locura" by Mike Marrero. That's the cuzzy-bubba-tour-de-force and it's a two-person piece. Maybe that's called a duologue? Landon Bradbary and Brandon Beach are two local boys who recount their (mis)adventures at the cockfights and beyond. It gets to levels of Conch culture and character that rarely make it to the page much less the screen. And it's immensely powerful in performance.

So like I said ... just go. Bones & Pie runs Wednesday through Saturdays, through Feb. 15. You can get tickets at Keystix. You will want to be able to tell people later that you saw this one.