A celebration of new works for the american stage
maRCH 2026
The 2026 Arkansas New Play Festival will take place March 7th through March 15th, 2026.
get $50 ALL-ACCESS PASSES & $15 single PASSES NOW
CALL 479-777-7477
New Play Passes grant entry to all events. Seating is very limited.
2026 Schedule
SATURDAY, maRCH 7th
2pm. But Today I am Fine by Ying Ying Li (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
5pm. Los Feliz, or the Live-In Nanny Play by Benjamin Benne (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
SUNDAY, maRCH 8th
12:30pm. Playwrights’ Panel (West Theatre, TheatreSquared)
2:00pm. America250: Common Threads Residency Readings (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
THURSDAY, maRCH 12th
7pm. Heroes & Monsters by The LatinX Theatre Project (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
FRIDAY, maRCH 13TH
7pm. Bookends by the UARK MFA Theatre Cohort & Tectonic Theater Project (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
Saturday, maRCH 14TH
11:30am. America250: Common Threads Residency Readings (Crystal Bridges, inside the America250: Common Threads Exhibit)
2pm. Young Playwrights Showcase (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
7pm. But Today I am Fine by Ying Ying Li (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
Sunday, maRCH 15th
11:30am. America250: Common Threads Residency Readings (Crystal Bridges, inside the America250: Common Threads Exhibit)
2pm. Bookends by UARK MFA Theatre Cohort & Tectonic Theater Project (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
5pm. Los Feliz, or the Live-In Nanny Play by Benjamin Benne (Spring Theatre, TheatreSquared)
2026 Lineup
LOS FELIZ, OR THE LIVE-IN NANNY PLAY
by BENJAMIN BENNE
Saturday, March 7 at 5pm (TheatreSquared)
Sunday, May 15 at 5pm (TheatreSquared)
When Irene, a Latina mother and doctor living in an affluent neighborhood in Los Angeles, hires Guatemalan immigrant Emilia to be a live-in nanny, the two women discover the many bonds and barriers between them—but are they more than just employer and employee? Are they friends? Are they colleagues? Are they family?
BUT TODAY I AM FINE
by YING YING LI
Saturday, March 7 at 2pm (TheatreSquared)
Saturday, May 14 at 7pm (TheatreSquared)
A coming-of-age story of motherhood told in a series of vignettes, which are in turns poignant and unserious, but always a little bit...dark. But Today I am Fine offers a vision of matrescence that is simultaneously provocation and validation, humor and horror balanced on a knife's edge. Tonally and structurally experimental, the main character of this solo show is a spiky mishmash of Bugs Bunny tricksterism, defeated xennial slackerism, frightened ESL immigrant, overcompliance, deviancy, mother, and murderer.
BOOKENDS
by THE UARK MFA THEATRE COHORT & TECTONIC THEATER PROJECT
Friday, March 13 at 7pm (TheatreSquared)
Sunday, March 15 at 2pm (TheatreSquared)
Step inside this funky secondhand bookshop, where the shelves lean in and the books call out. Whimsy and tall tales, uncomfortable histories and personal truths, sweet scribbles in the margins and forgotten voices are all hiding here, waiting to be uncovered. This collectively devised new play by the UARK MFA Theatre Cohort in collaboration with Tectonic Theater Project was inspired by visits to Dickson Street Bookshop, and by all the independent community spaces that keep stories alive.
HEROES & MONSTERS
by THE LATINX THEATRE PROJECT
Thursday, March 12 at 7pm (TheatreSquared)
Heroes & Monsters is a reboot of a previous LXTP production. Having originally been done completely online and over video chats due to the COVID-19 shutdowns, LXTP intends to bring this show to the real world using music, poetry, and fight/dance choreography. Heroes and Monsters is an online virtual world inhabited by some of the world's most prolific gamers, all amassed to answer one question: Who is the World's Next Legendary Warrior? Follow Xo, a newcomer to the game, who embarks on this quest and unravels the hidden lore and secrets this game holds in hopes of becoming the Hero this game needs, or the Villain who will take it all down.
AMERICA250: COMMON THREADS RESIDENCY READINGS
by sarah loucks, a.k. payne, & iraisa ann reilly
Sunday, March 8 at 2pm (TheatreSquared)
Saturday, March 14 at 11:30am (Crystal Bridges, inside the America250: Common Threads Exhibit)
Sunday, March 15 at 11:30am (Crystal Bridges, inside the America250: Common Threads Exhibit)
In partnership with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and The Momentary, TheatreSquared has commissioned three playwrights to be “in residence” and create a series of short plays inspired by American artworks in Crystal Bridges’ exhibit America 250: Common Threads. The pieces are currently in development and will be workshopped and presented during ANPF at TheatreSquared and at Crystal Bridges as part of Crystal Bridges’ America 250 exhibit, running through July 2026.
About Crystal Bridges’ America 250: Common Threads: As the United States marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the exhibit will both commemorate the events of 1776 and reflect on 250 years of American art and civic participation. An early engraving of the Declaration of Independence will anchor a group of historic documents displayed alongside textiles, paintings, toys, and other works from 1776 to the present. The exhibition considers how artists and national leaders document American history. America 250: Common Threads explores how American artists historically foster civic participation and strengthen community relationships.
The exhibition explores the symbols artists turn to when celebrating or commenting on the United States: George Washington’s many faces, eagles appearing across books, baskets, and coverlets, flags seen as quilts or as documentation of the moon landing, and more.