BECCA MARTIN-BROWN

bmartin@nwaonline.com

FYI

Arkansas New Play Festival

Now in its 16th year, TheatreSquared’s Arkansas New Play Festival — new plays featured in staged readings — begins June 14.

This year’s lineup — presented at Ovations Plus, formerly Trike Theatre, in Bentonville; The Medium in Springdale; and at T2 in Fayetteville — includes:

“Eugene Onegin” — By Sarah Gancher, 5 p.m. June 15 at Ovations Plus & 5:30 p.m. June 22 at T2. Pushkin’s novel-in-verse and Tchaikovsky’s opera have been given new life in 1940s rural Arkansas.

“Have to Believe We Are Magic” — By Sara Guerrero, 7 p.m. June 14 at The Medium & 2 p.m. June 23 at T2. A coming-of-age story is filled with roller-skating, family, friendships, sex, love, abortion, and self-discovery.

“Edi Ya & Diamond’s Grove” — By a.k. payne, 2 p.m. June 15 at Ovations Plus & 2:30 p.m. June 22 at T2. Set at the edge of an old U.S. mill town, “Edi Ya & Diamond’s Grove” tells a story about two Black young people working in an amusement park dripping with ghosts.

“Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem” — By Jonathan Norton, 2 p.m. June 16 at The Medium & 5 p.m. June 23 at T2. 1943. A long, hot summer of heartbreak, betrayal, and racial uprisings moves two young Harlemites closer to the men they will become and farther from each other.

“Sherlock Holmes: The Timbers Family File” — By LatinX Theatre Project, 7 p.m. June 21 at T2. Sherlock Holmes reimagined as a Latine/x detective, uncovering a string of robberies.

Plus:

Arkansas Young Playwrights’ Showcase — 12:30 p.m. June 22 at T2. Free.

“Songs for Drunk Cowboys Who May Also Be Women: An Anti-Musical (For Fools Only)” — By Sarah Loucks, 7 p.m. June 20 at T2. Free.

COST — $50 all-show passes; single show passes $15

INFO — 777-7477 or arkansasnewplayfest.com