Celebrating the 63rd Season of Festival Playhouse:
Love is Love: Stories of Power, Pursuit, and Passion
Up Next:
Harlem Duet
by Djanet Sears
Produced in Collaboration with Face Off Theatre Company
Directed by Dr. Quincy Thomas
Performances will be held September 11-20, 2026 in the Nelda K. Balch Festival Playhouse.
Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, September 11-12 and 18-19, with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Sunday, September 13 and 20.
A rhapsodic blues tragedy. Harlem Duet could be the prelude to Shakespeare’s Othello, and recounts the tale of Othello and his first wife Billie (yes, before Desdemona), told through the eyes of the Black women whose stories have too often been pushed to the margins.Set in contemporary Harlem at the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X boulevards, the play explores the space where race and sex intersect. Harlem Duet is Billie’s story.
Content Advisory: This production contains mature themes, strong language, sexual content, discussions of racism and historical trauma, emotional and domestic conflict, violence, and a depiction of throat-slitting with theatrical blood. Audience discretion is advised.
Fall 2026
Perfect Arrangement
by Topher Payne
Directed by Dr. Miriam Thomas
Thursday, November 5, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 6, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 7, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 8, 2:00 p.m.*
*this performance features ASL Interpretation made possible with the generous support of The Jim Gilmore Jr. Foundation in conjunction with Theatre Kalamazoo!
It’s 1950, and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees, Bob and Norma, have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. There’s just one problem: Both Bob and Norma are gay, and have married each other’s partners as a carefully constructed cover. Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the American gay rights movement, madcap classic sitcom-style laughs give way to provocative drama as two “All-American” couples are forced to stare down the closet door.
PERFECT ARRANGEMENT is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
www.concordtheatricals.com
Winter 2027
Exit, Pursued by a Bear
by Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Ren Pruis
Thursday, February 25, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, February 26, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 27, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 28, 2:00 p.m.
Nan has decided to teach her abusive husband Kyle a lesson. With the help of her friend Simon (acting as her emotional—and actual—cheerleader), a stripper named Sweetheart, and the words of William Shakespeare, she tapes Kyle to a chair and forces him to watch as they reenact scenes from their painful past. In the piece de resistance, they plan to cover the room in meat and honey so Kyle will be mauled by a bear. Through this night of emotional trials and ridiculous theatrics, Nan and Kyle are both freed from their past in this smart, wonderfully dark yet hopeful revenge comedy.
EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Playscripts.
www.concordtheatricals.com
Spring 2026
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Dr. Quincy Thomas
Thursday, May 13, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 14, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 15, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 16, 2:00 p.m.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows four Athenian lovers—Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius—who flee into a magical forest, leading to comical chaos as fairy king Oberon and mischievous Puck use love potions to meddle with their affections, causing confusion, jealousy, and unexpected pairings, all while a troupe of amateur actors rehearse a play in the same woods, culminating in resolved relationships and double weddings for the humans, and Puck reversing the magic, all set against the backdrop of Theseus and Hippolyta’s impending nuptials.
Come back soon to learn about the 2026-2027 Senior Performance Series!
Theatre that is always provocative. Theatre that is always thoughtful.
Festival Playhouse is a proud member of Theatre Kalamazoo (TK), a consortium of theatres of Kalamazoo County. TK demonstrates that collectively we can achieve much more than we can as individual theatres–and together, we promote the very things that define what is truly special about being alive in the world, interacting with one another to celebrate humanity at large.
Festival Playhouse gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Dorothy U. Dalton Foundation.
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