FAYETTEVILLE, ARK.: TheatreSquared has announced the lineup of new plays that will be featured at its ninth annual Arkansas New Play Festival. Lisa D’Amour, Rick Ehrstin, Barbara Hammond, Mona Mansour, John Walch, and Austin Ashford will have their plays developed and read over two weekends, June 16-25.
“This 50-artist, two-weekend festival is our region’s rare opportunity to see—and shape—the next great American play,” said T2 executive director Martin Miller in a statement. “With 15 performances and events in Fayetteville and Bentonville, the festival is an embarrassment of riches for theatre lovers and a chance for every community member to have a glimpse of a usually closed-loop creative process.”
The lineup of plays will be:
- The Furies by Lisa D’Amour, about two friends who reveal secrets over lunch that threaten to upend their friendship and their lives.
- Visible From Four States by Barbara Hammond, in which residents debate what to put on their town’s highest hilltop.
- Transatlantic by John Walch, a comedy that spans two continents and two centuries.
- Comet Town by Rich Ehrstin, about a man who is trying to juggle work, family, and a father with dementia.
- We Swim, We Talk, We Go to War by Mona Mansour, about a woman and her nephew who navigate identity, family, and allegiance.
- (I)sland T(rap) by Austin Ashford, a one-person rap adaptation of The Odyssey. Ashford will perform.
In addition, TheatreSquared will present a young playwrights showcase, with two 10-minute student works and a performance of Follow Me @TioSam, a devised theatre piece from the Latin/x Youth Theatre Project.