05/20/2026
Announcing our 2026-2027 Season!
Marjorie Prime
Written by Jordan Harrison
Directed by Steve Noll
A woman with Alzheimer’s gets an unusual present from her adult daughter’s husband: an AI hologram of her dead husband. Initially suspicious of this technology, Marjorie begins to tell it stories of her life. However memory and technology doesn’t always align, especially about the strained relationship with her human daughter.
September 18 - 25, 2026
Evjue Stage | Drama
Eurydice
Written by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Sam Weeks
After dying on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. Reimagining the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice not through Orpheus' infamous pilgrimage to retrieve his bride, but through the eyes of its heroine, this is a fresh look at a timeless love story.
October 2 - 17, 2026
Drury Stage | Dramatic Comedy
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Written by Ray Bradbury
Directed by Stephanie Monday
Join us for our annual Halloween production, about best friends, Jim and William, and their nightmarish experience with a traveling carnival that comes to Green Town, Illinois in the early 1960’s. The carnival’s leader is the mysterious Mr Dark, who seemingly wields the power to grant the townspeople’s secret desires. In reality, Dark is a malevolent being who, like the carnival, lives off the life force of those it enslaves.
October 9 - 24, 2026
Evjue Stage | Dark Fantasy
The Moors
Written by Jen Silverman
A young governess arrives at a remote manor after exchanging semi-romantic correspondence with one mysterious Mr. Branwell. But when the door opens, the only residents of the house seem to be Branwell's two sisters, a maid (or maybe two maids?) and a lovelorn mastiff. And no man to be found, or child to be cared for. An inspired, whimsical satire that both embraces and sends up the gothic musings of the Brontë sisters.
October 30 - November 14, 2026
Evjue Stage | Dark Satire
Romeo and Juliet
Written by William Shakespeare
After more than 20 years, Shakespeare’s legendary lovers return to the Bartell stage! Capulets, Montagues, and two young lovers who rise above it all. Insults turn to squabbles turn to tragedies, and through the chaos, a soaring love burns brightly. The best-known play in the English language for good reason.
November 6 - 21, 2026
Drury Stage | Drama
OPERATION: EDELWEISS (a panto)
Written by Doug Reed
Directed by Heidi Hakseth
The hills are alive... with intrigue! An undercover agent must infiltrate the home of a retired Captain by posing as a singing nanny. Can she outwit the scheming Baroness? Can she plot the family's escape? Will she be Von Trapped behind enemy lines? This ridiculous spoof pays "tribute" to one of the great movie musicals of all time.
December 11 - 27, 2026
Drury Stage | Family Comedy
Ball Drop Blitz 2026
Written by Various Playwrights
Ready or not! Once again, Mercury teams up with Knowbetter Productions to write, direct and present an evening of short plays in only 24 hours! Proceeds – as always – will benefit the Bartell, so ring in the New Year with a good time for a good cause!
December 31, 2026
Drury Stage | Variety
Ride the Cyclone
Book and Music by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell
Stage Direction by Abigail Hindle
Music Direction by Leo Endres
Six members of a high school chamber choir are at an amusement park where they encounter a fortune teller machine. Karnak the Fortuneteller suggests that they take a ride in the Cyclone roller coaster; when the teens do, an accident occurs that results in their untimely deaths. They wake up in an empty yet disheveled circus warehouse, where Karnak guides the students through an emotional roller coaster of flashbacks, confessions, and revelations. Trapped between life and death, the teenagers must share their wildest hopes and dreams in order to prove that they deserve a second chance at life.
January 22 - February 6, 2027
Drury Stage | Musical
Dear Jack, Dear Louise
Written by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Kathleen Tissot
A heartwarming, comedic play based on the true WWII courtship of the playwright’s parents. U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig and Louise Rabiner, an aspiring Broadway dancer, fall in love through letters, facing challenges of war and long-distance.
January 29 - February 6, 2027
Evjue Stage | Romantic Comedy
A Valentine’s Affair 2027: Love Scenes from Shakespeare and Beyond
Written by William Shakespeare (and Shakes-peers)
“I do love nothing in the world so well as you!” Madison’s unique Valentine’s Day tradition
continues with a fresh lineup of passion, romance, and unrequited love from William Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Our ensemble brings you history’s greatest lovers, seducers, and schemers in just 90 minutes, with familiar faces and unconventional suitors alike, plus the unpredictable fun of Sonnets From a Hat.
February 11 - 13, 2027
Evjue Stage | Comedy & Drama
The Rivals
Written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, adapted by Murray Fane
Directed by Julia Houck
Jack and Lydia have a complicated courtship. They are finally united despite the unhelpful interventions of Jack’s father, Sir Anthony, and Lydia’s aunt, Mrs Malaprop, as well as two further suitors of Lydia’s – a bellicose Irishman and an English country bumpkin.
February 12 - 27, 2027
Drury Stage | Comedy
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,
Written by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Karl Stoll
A renowned absurdist play that reimagines Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the perspective of its two minor, clueless characters. The story follows them as they wander through events, trying to understand their purpose, free will, and inevitable fate while caught in a plot they cannot control. Produced in memory of the playwright and our friend, Jeffrey Knupp, both of whom we lost in 2026.
March 12 - 27, 2027
Evjue Stage | Tragic Comedy
Hope and Gravity
Written by Michael Hollinger
Directed by Sean Langenecker
An elevator collapse triggers interconnected events for nine characters over time, using a non-linear structure. It features vignettes about love, loss, and chance, suggesting that while the "gravity" of life pulls us down, "hope" lifts us up.
April 9 - 24, 2027
Evjue Stage | Drama
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Adapted by Maggie Low Rader
When Basil Hallward paints a portrait of the stunning young Dorian Gray, Dorian finds himself wrestling between his conscience and the life lessons of Lady Harriet Wotton. This brand new adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic, and only, novel brings the horror of what we all keep hidden to the stage and asks one important question: In the end, what is your soul worth?
April 16 - May 1, 2027
Drury Stage | Drama
Marriage à la Mode
Written by John Dryden
Three couples must overcome incredible odds, prying eyes, terrible timing, and a lot of obvious lies to end up with their best match. And no classic love story is complete without mistaken identity, an unlawful king, and a last-minute rescue! It’s fast-paced Restoration Comedy on the Bartell stage.
April 30 - May 8, 2027
Evjue Stage | Comedy
Rumors
Written by Neil Simon
Directed by Sarah Piper
An unconscious bleeding host and a missing hostess sparks a cascade of lies, misunderstandings, and comedic chaos. Get ready to experience a severe attack of farce as four New York power couples gather to celebrate their friends’ tenth wedding anniversary at what is sure to be an unforgettable evening.
May 7 - 22, 2027
Drury Stage | Comedy
Switzerland
Written by Joanna Murray-Smith
Directed by Julia Houck
Somewhere in the Swiss Alps, grande dame of crime literature, Patricia Highsmith, the
creator of Ripley, lives with an impressive collection of books and a somewhat sinister
collection of guns and knives. She finds solace in her solitude, her cats, and ci******es.
But when a mysterious international visitor arrives at her perfectly secluded home, her love of fictional murders becomes a dangerous reality.
May 14 - 29, 2027
Evjue Stage | Drama
CapitalQ 2027: A Q***r Shorts Festival
Various Authors
Celebrate pride month with StageQ's sixth annual CapitalQ Q***r Shorts Festival! StageQ will take over the Bartell for two weekends to present brand new play readings, 10-minute shorts, and one-act plays by up-and-coming q***r playwrights from around the country. From introspective dramas to goofy comedies, the Q***r Shorts Festival has something q***r for everyone.
June 11 - 19, 2027
Drury Stage | Variety
