The Arkansas Repertory Theatre is again playing host to the Little Rock staging of TheatreSquared’s Arkansas New Play Festival.

TheatreSquared Artistic Director Robert Ford and Executive Director Martin Miller have announced the lineup of new plays for TheatreSquared’s sixth annual Arkansas New Play Festival. B Side: Myself will feature rock music by Arkansas playwright Jamey McGaugh. Staged reading performances will also include Just Like Us by Karen Zacarías, What God Had Wrought by John Walch, and Disfarmer by Werner Trieschmann.

The Little Rock leg of the Arkansas New Play Fest will take place at The Rep on 601 Main Street in the Black Box Theatre on the 2nd Mezzaine level:

Saturday, June 7

3:00 p.m. – B Side: Myself (100 min)

6:00 p.m. – Just Like Us (90 min)

Sunday, June 8

2:00 p.m. – Disfarmer (90 min)

5:00 p.m. – What God Hath Wrought (120 min)

“New plays are the lifeblood of the American theatre,” said Ford. “For three weeks in June, we give playwrights the unparalleled opportunity to develop new scripts in close collaboration with professional actors, dramaturgs and directors. At the end of this intensive creative process, audiences in Fayetteville and Little Rock will be given unusual access to these bold new plays before they take the national stage — and directly impact how they are shaped.”

• B Side: Myself by Jamey McGaugh will feature original music performed by a live rock band. It’s the musician’s nightmare: the audition of a lifetime with a deep-pocketed record producer and an international rock star, but the rest of the band is nowhere to be found. This production will be directed by Sean Patrick Reilly and feature cast members Jim Goza, Kieran Cronyn, Bob Hart, Maggie Ferran, and Coleman Clark as well as musicians Kate Knox, Dan Robinson, Bryan McCue, and Bryan Tamara.
• Just Like Us by Karen Zacarías, who is playwright-in-residence at Arena Stage, was originally premiered in Denver and is being substantially reimagined for the festival. Based on Helen Thorpe’s bestselling book, this new play follows four Latina girls whose immigration status begins to erode their opportunities — and their friendships. Directed by Tlaloc Rivas.
• Disfarmer, by Werner Trieschmann, returns for its third year of development at the Arkansas New Play Festival (2009, 2011) in newly expanded form. Based on a true story, this comedic portrait tells the tale of an eccentric photographer from Heber Springs, Arkansas, who in the early forties charged a townsfolk and visitors to have their pictures taken—and decades later caused a minor speculative mania when New York gallery owners “discovered” his work and descended on the small Arkansas town. Directed by Keira Fromm.
• What God Hath Wrought, by John Walch, is a “transatlantic farce” with original music. Customer Service Superagent Meg Chambers can handle any request — she’s the last stop on the Habañero’s service line, dealing with escalated complaints about everything from exploding burritos to too-weak salsa. But when a mysterious Morse code message comes in from, apparently, 1857, she may finally have met her match.  New York-based playwright John Walch is the winner of the American Theatre Critics Association’s Osborn Award. Directed by Shana Gold.