ARTS & CULTURE
Text and photos courtesy of TheatreSquared
Big Stories, Close to Home
TheatreSquared’s Season 21 is almost here
There’s something for everyone in TheatreSquared’s upcoming 2026-2027 season. The theater is launching a new Family Series alongside five Main Stage Series productions. “If there’s one theme that runs through our 21st season, it’s that of family,” said Bob Ford, artistic director. “From teenage daughters entering young womanhood to a son’s aspirations colliding head-on with a father’s fears, the season explores the explosive — and explosively funny — dynamics that shape families.”
Season 21 also marks TheatreSquared’s return to its theater-for-young-audiences roots with the launch of the Family Series — three productions designed to welcome kids, parents and first-time theatergoers. The series includes Disney’s Newsies Jr. (which ran in July), the return of holiday favorite Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) in December and Arnold Lobel’s A Year With Frog and Toad in April 2027.
“After 20 incredible years, TheatreSquared is what it is because of the amazing community and family that surrounds us,” said Executive Director Shannon A. Jones. “Our Season 21 lineup is a love letter to families of all kinds — the ones we’re born into or the ones we choose — and all of the incredible, complex, meaningful connections that make them special.”
The Main Stage season opens Sept. 9 with the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning masterwork August Wilson’s Fences — the first time the towering American classic has been staged in Northwest Arkansas. In 1950s Pittsburgh, Troy Maxson built fences to protect his family. But what happens when those walls keep dreams out? August Wilson’s masterwork is an explosively funny and heartbreaking portrait of an American family. August Wilson’s Fences will run Sept. 9-27.
This year’s new T2 holiday classic will be a beloved story of sisterhood, adapted for long-time fans and new generations alike: Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. From the playwright of The Half-Life of Marie Curie and the Christmas at Pemberley series, this brilliant adaptation follows the March sisters as they navigate universal coming-of-age issues such as sibling rivalry, ambition and first love. Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women will run from Nov. 18 through Dec. 13.
Next up, an Arkansas New Play Festival success story! Cowboys and East Indians by Nina McConigley and Matthew Spangler returns to the community where it was born. Warm, funny and deeply recognizable, this is a story about being caught between worlds, between generations, and between India and Wyoming. Cowboys and East Indians will run Feb. 3-28, 2027.
In the spring, it’s time for a love letter to spy movies. Imagine Alfred Hitchcock directed by Monty Python — that’s The 39 Steps. This two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award winner uses a ridiculously talented cast of four playing more than 150 characters — heroes, villains, sheep, inanimate objects. Pure romance. Pure magic. Pure fun. The 39 Steps will run April 7-25, 2027.
Last, but certainly not least, the season will close with the 2025 Tony-winning satire Eureka Day. This razor-sharp play explores what happens when five well-meaning parents try to agree on a solution that’s best for everyone. Nobody’s the villain. Everybody has a point. What do we owe each other when we can’t agree on the facts? Eureka Day will run June 2-20, 2027.
Subscription packages and Family Series tickets are on sale now at www.theatre2.org/subscribe or by calling TheatreSquared at (479) 777-7477.