Fresh Scripts Take the Stage at the ARKType New Play Festival
Most theater asks you to sit back and watch. The ARKType New Play Festival asks you to witness something still taking shape. The University of Arkansas Department of Theatre is staging brand-new works by M.F.A. playwrights alongside a devised ensemble piece, giving NWA audiences a front-row seat to stories being told for the very first time.
Wildness runs through all three works, not as an assigned theme, but something that emerged naturally from this particular group of artists.
THE DEETS
📅 Friday, February 27, 2026 – Sunday, March 15, 2026 | Schedule varies
📍 Global Campus Black Box Theatre, Fayetteville | TheatreSquared, Fayetteville
💵 General Admission: $20 | Non-UA Students: $10 | Seniors: $15 | Tickets
🔗 More info | Production Schedule
Two Worlds, One Weekend
Wildflower Season by Connor Johnson follows Eileen, who lies in a hospital bed after a severe car accident while her partner, best friend, and mother keep vigil at her side. As they wait, Eileen drifts through fragments of memory, stolen kisses, bitter fights, and private missteps, woven together with the offbeat fairy tale her mother used to tell her as a child. Past and present blur into something wry and tender. Directed by Leigh Fondakowski.
Camp Wyldwood by Basil Parnell drops you into a summer camp where seven girls in Maple Cabin navigate growing up without the buffer of phones or technology. Secret rituals form, hidden crushes surface, and alliances spark and splinter as the girls reckon with the world, each other, and themselves. Directed by NJ Aguwana.
Both plays run in repertory Feb. 27 through March 7 at the Global Campus Black Box Theatre, so you can catch two distinct stories in a single day or weekend.
Stories Off the Shelf
Closing out the festival is Bookends, a collectively devised piece by the UARK M.F.A. Theatre Cohort and Tectonic Theater Project. Inspired by visits to Dickson Street Bookshop, the play pulls you inside a funky secondhand bookstore where whimsy, uncomfortable histories, and forgotten voices wait between the shelves. It runs March 13 and 15 as part of the Arkansas New Play Festival at TheatreSquared.
The Full Schedule
Wildflower Season — Global Campus Black Box Theatre Fri 2/27 @ 7:30pm | Sun 3/1 @ 7:30pm | Thu 3/5 @ 7:30pm | Sat 3/7 @ 2:00pm
Camp Wyldwood — Global Campus Black Box Theatre Sat 2/28 @ 7:30pm | Sun 3/1 @ 2:00pm | Fri 3/6 @ 7:30pm | Sat 3/7 @ 7:30pm
Bookends — TheatreSquared Fri 3/13 @ 7:00pm | Sun 3/15 @ 2:00pm
These plays explore adult themes and mature content. Audience discretion is recommended.
The ARKType New Play Festival is one of those events where you walk in not knowing what to expect and leave with something that stays with you. Grab your tickets before the run wraps up March 15.
