In 1952, the second Red Scare is at its height. Televised Senate hearings fan the flames of suspicion, the hydrogen bomb is under development, and paranoia seeps into every aspect of American life. The fear that a communist might be around every corner—or even sharing your bed—turns neighbors into suspects and private lives into political battlegrounds.
In 2026, the particulars have changed, but the feeling is familiar. News arrives faster than ever, a relentless tide of headlines, crises, scandals, and outrage.
And in every year, ordinary people try to build lives, relationships and futures while pitted against the stormy sea of history. Red Herring- replete with a healthy dash of “I Love Lucy” silliness and screwball noir pacing- reminds us that while politics may shape the weather, it is the deeply human need to connect and perhaps even fall in love that keeps us afloat.
-Karen Estrada
KAREN ESTRADA (Director)
Selected Production Credits-Acting: The 39 Steps, The Mystery of Irma Vep, I Carry Your Heart With Me, 5th of July-reading, Murder Girl-reading, Third Avenue PlayWorks; Frozen, Finding Nemo, The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors, The Amazing Lemonade Girl, First Stage Milwaukee; Spring Awakening, The Full Monty, Into the Woods, Skylight Music Theater; Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, Great Expectations, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, Crimes of the Heart, Jeeves in Bloom, Chamber Theater; Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven, Honour, Enfrascada, Smell of the Kill, Renaissance Theaterworks; Silent Sky, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Next Act Theater; Ruddigore, 1776, Milwaukee Opera Theater; Disney on Classic. Directing: Jeeves Saves the Day, Third Avenue PlayWorks; On the Wings of a Mariposa, Little Women, First Stage Milwaukee; Bright Star, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Songs of Note, Marquette University Theater; Almost, Maine, Next Act Theater. Karen received her BFA in Acting from UW-Stevens Point.