Current Season
- A Year With Frog and Toad
- Our Town
- Love/Sick
- Freaky Friday
Past Seasons
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a fast-paced romantic comedy with several interwoven plots of romance, mistaken identities and practical jokes.
Separated from her twin brother Sebastian in a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy, calls herself Cesario, and becomes a servant to the Duke Orsino. He sends her to woo the Countess Olivia on his behalf, but the Countess falls in love with Cesario. Meanwhile Olivia’s chambermaid, Maria, rowdy uncle, Sir Toby Belch, and his friend Sir Andrew Ague-Cheek play a trick on Malvolio, Olivia’s stuffy and uptight steward. Eventually Sebastian turns up and causes even more confusion, chaos and comedy.
This new production, directed by Dan Pivovar and performed by the Southern Arkansas University Theatre Department is being put to the background of the bold and colorful 1980’s and set in Hawaii. Twelfth Night is a play that embraces the absurd and over the top making the decade of frizzy hair, parachute pants, and iconic music the perfect backdrop for this hilarious retelling.
Twelfth Night will have three evening performances at Harton Theater at 7:30pm starting September 23rd, with an additional 2pm matinee on Sunday, September 26th.
The Splitfire Grill
Based on the hit 1996 film, The Spitfire Grill is a heartwarming and inspirational musical tale of redemption, perseverance and family.
A young girl with a dark past follows her dreams, based on a page from an old travel book, to a small town in Wisconsin and finds a place for herself working at Hannah’s Spitfire Grill. The Grill is for sale, but there are no takers for the only eatery in the depressed town, so newcomer Percy convinces Hannah to raffle it off. Entry fees are one hundred dollars and the best essay on why you want the Grill wins. Soon, mail arrives by the wheelbarrow and things really start cookin’ at the Spitfire Grill.
The Spitfire Grill will have three evening performances at Harton Theater at 7:30pm starting November 18th, with an additional 2pm matinee on Sunday, November 21st.
She Kills Monsters
Guest Director and Fight Choreographer, Cha Ramos, brings takes you on a comedic romp into the world of fantasy role-playing games with this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres and 90s pop culture. She Kills Monsters tells the story of Agnes Evans as she leaves her childhood home in Ohio following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly. When Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, however, she finds herself catapulted into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was her sister’s refuge.
She Kills Monsters will have three evening performances at Harton Theater at 7:30pm starting February 24th, with an additional 2pm matinee on Sunday, February 27th.
Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls is an oddball romantic comedy. Gambler, Nathan Detroit, tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck; meanwhile, his girlfriend and nightclub performer, Adelaide, laments that they’ve been engaged for fourteen years. Nathan turns to fellow gambler, Sky Masterson, for the dough, and Sky ends up chasing the straight-laced missionary, Sarah Brown, as a result. Guys and Dolls takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, Cuba, and even into the sewers of New York City, but eventually everyone ends up right where they belong.
For the first time in many years, MHS Theatre and SAU Theatre are coming together to bring you this joint production, which will be performed at the new Magnolia Performing Arts Center at the MHS campus. Guys and Dolls will have three evening performances at MPAC at 7:30pm starting April 21st, with an additional 2pm matinee on Sunday, April 24th.
- The Importance of Being Earnest
- The Diviners
- The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Macbeth
By: William Shakespeare
On August 30, 2005 (the day after Hurricane Katrina), Macbeth is visited by 3 New Orleans voodoo priestesses that tell him he is destined for greatness! Hearing these words, he shares this information with his beautiful, ambitious wife who agrees that he is the one who should rule; but first, he must kill the current leader, Duncan. When the act is committed, Macbeth and his wife both spiral down a journey of more murder, madness, and misdeeds. With the stage set for the final battle, will Macbeth triumph? Will the greed he seeks cost him his head? Join us for Shakespeare’s legendary tale set in one of the most popular cities in America.
Directed by: Brandon Smith
Dates: October 2-5 @ 7:30pm, October 5-6 @ 2:00pm
Little Women
Musical By: Alan Knee
Based on Louisa May Alcott’s life, Little Women follows the adventures of sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March. Jo is trying to sell her stories for publication, but the publishers are not interested – her friend, Professor Bhaer, tells her that she has to do better and write more from herself. Begrudgingly taking this advice, Jo weaves the story of herself and her sisters and their experience growing up in Civil War America.
Directed by: Brittany Bara
Dates: November 20-23 @ 7:30pm, November 23-24 @ 2:00pm
Wiley & The Hairy Man
By: Suzan Zeder
Winner of the ASSITEJ: Outstanding International Play for Young Audiences and The Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award, this drama is a spine-tingling tale of a boy and his worst fears in the swamp—eventually overcome by Wiley himself. Set deep within the mysterious Tombigbee Swamp, Wiley and the Hairy Man centers around a young fatherless boy, his conjure-woman mother, his faithful dog, and the Hairy Man who haunts Wiley’s days and dreams. Through rhythm and rhyme, a chorus creates the mystery of the swamp. The magic of this play is not fairy dust, it is soil—the magic of survival, the magic of the earth and the mud of the swamp. In an exciting duel of wits, Wiley learns to rely upon his own resources and conquers two villains: the Hairy Man and his own fear.
Directed by: Brittany Bara
Dates: February 19-22 @ 7:30pm, February 22-23, @ 2:00pm
Barefoot in the Park
By: Neil Simon
Paul and Corie Bratter are newlyweds in every sense of the word. He’s a straight-as-an-arrow lawyer and she’s a free spirit always looking for the latest kick. Their new apartment is her most recent find – too expensive with bad plumbing and in need of a paint job. After a six-day honeymoon, they get a surprise visit from Corie’s loopy mother and decide to play matchmaker during a dinner with their neighbor-in-the-attic, Velasco, where everything that can go wrong, does. Paul just doesn’t understand Corie, as she sees it. He’s too staid, too boring, and she just wants him to be a little more spontaneous. Running “barefoot in the park” would be a start…
Produced in Collaboration with the Magnolia Arts Center, this production will be performed at Magnolia Arts Center. For tickets, visit https://www.magnoliaarts.net/
Student Directed by: Emma Walker
Dates: March 11-14 @7:30pm, March 14-15 @ 2:00pm
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Musical By: Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn
An eclectic group of six students vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life unaffirming
“ding” of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box. Audience Participation – so start brushing up on your spelling.
Directed by: Daniel Pivovar
Dates: April 22-25 @ 7:30pm, April 25-26 @ 2:00pm
- Next to Normal
- Antigone
- Unexpected Tenderness
- Sister Act
RHINOCEROS
By Eugène Ionesco
Translated by Derek Prouse
Directed by Tiffany Antone
A small town is besieged by a stampeding rhinoceros, much to the citizens’ confusion. As those very citizens begin transforming into rhinoceroses one by one, the town’s social order is trampled on-until almost nothing is left. One sane man, Berenger, remains, unable to change his form and identity. An absurdist, avant-garde drama-the sublime is confused with the ridiculous in this savage commentary on the human condition. Even 60 years later, it remains an “allegory for our times” (The New York Times).
MADAGASCAR-A MUSICAL ADVENTURE
Based on the DreamWorks Animation Motion Picture
November 16-19, 2017
Book by Kevin Del Aguila
Original Music and Lyrics by George Noriega and Joel Someillan
Directed by Cason Murphy
Musical Direction by David De Seguirant
Choreography by Brandon Smith
Based on the smash DreamWorks animated motion picture, Madagascar – A Musical Adventure follows Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, and that wacky quartet of penguins as they escape from their home in New York’s Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar. Filled with your favorite crack-a-lackin’ friends, adventure galore and an upbeat score, Madagascar will leave audiences with no choice but to “Move It, Move It!”
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
February 15-18, 2018
By William Shakespeare
Adapted by Tiffany Antone
Directed by Cason Murphy
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, SAU will present a new take on Bard’s most popular and enchanting comedy in a spirited adaptation by Tiffany Antone. Join us in the woods outside Athens as four young lovers escape the city (and wishes of their parents) and unexpectedly find themselves caught up in the middle of a dispute between the King and Queen of the Fairies. Throw in some trickery, some transformation, and a traveling troupe of questionable actors and you have the recipe for a magical evening!
HAIRSPRAY
April 19-22, 2018
Book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Directed by Cason Murphy
Musical Direction by David De Seguirant
Choreography by Brandon Smith
It’s 1962 in Baltimore, Maryland, and quirky, plus-sized, teenage Tracy Turnblad has one dream: to dance on The Corny Collins Show. When she gets put in detention with the African-American students in the school, they teach her some of their dance moves, and her new-found groove wins her a spot on Corny’s show. After becoming a celebrity overnight, Tracy uses her star status to help lift up those who got her there by campaigning for the show’s integration. Hairspray shows us the black and white fact that when we look out for each other, “you can’t stop the beat!”
2016-2017
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown by Clark Gessner, with additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Dial M for Murder by Frederick Knott
Disney’s The Little Mermaid by Doug Wright, with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, with additional lyrics by Glenn Slater.
2015-2016
Godspell by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Out of Order by Roy Cooney
The Wizard of Oz by Andrew Lloyd Webber, music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg
2014-2015
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Dutchman by Leroi Jones
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Ashman and Rice, and Book by Linda Woolverton
2013-2014
I hate Hamlet by Paul Rudnick
Proof by David Auburn
Seussical the Musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
2012-2013
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Doubt, A Parable by John Patrick Shanley
Lucky Stiff by Lynn Ahrens
An Evening of Student Directed One-Acts
2011-2012
Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl
The Good Doctor by Neil Simon
Royal Gambit by Hermann Gressieker
The 39 Steps by John Buchan
2010-2011
Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling
Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change by Joe DiPietro
Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig
2009-2010
Boy Gets Girl by Rebecca Gilman
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Life Radio Play by Joe Landry
Exit the King by Eugene Ionesco
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
2008-2009
A Skull in Connemara by Martin McDonagh
All in the Timing by David Ives
Butterflies are Free by Leonard Gershe
Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry
2007-2008
Crimes of the Hart by Beth Henley
Six Who Were There by June Lauzon
The Dining Room by A.A. Gurney
The Lilies of the Field by F. Andrew Leslie
2006-2007
Boston Marriage by David Mamet
Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage
The Fantasticks by Tom Jones
