Arkansas New Play Festival to kick off this weekend

By Dustin Bartholomew · Wednesday, Jun 12, 2024

An annual event that helps develop brand new plays poised to move on to bigger stages around the world is set to kick off in Fayetteville this weekend.

Of course, we’re talking about the annual Arkansas New Play Festival, kicking off June 14 and running through June 23 at TheatreSquared and other venues around the region.

The event, organized each year by TheatreSquared, will feature staged readings of several new plays this year, including; Eugene Onegin by Sarah Gancher, Have to Believe We Are Magic by Sara Guerrero, Edi Ya & Diamond’s Grove by a.k. payne, and Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem by Jonathan Norton.

Have to Believe We Are Magic by Sara Guerrero directed by Fran De Leon

Performances: Friday, June 14 at 7pm (at The Medium), Sunday, June 23 at 2pm (at TheatreSquared)

Description: What is magic? Are we magic? And if so, how do we hold it? This part-biographical-part-magic love letter to a Pocha-Chicana-Latina coming-of-age time is filled with roller-skating, family, friendships, sex, love, abortion, and self-discovery. How does one keep and find their magic? All unfolds under the shadow of “The Magic Kingdom” (or “The Tragic Kingdom”) in central Orange County, California, in the summer of 1994.