Harlem Duet

Written by Djanet Sears

September 10-20. 2026

Nelda K. Balch Festival Playhouse, 129 Thompson St., Kalamazoo, MI 49007

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). Set in contemporary Harlem at the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X boulevards, the play explores 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.

Perfect Arrangement

Written by Topher Payne

November 5-8, 2026

Nelda K. Balch Playhouse, 129 Thompson St. on Kalamazoo College’s campus.

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.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Written by Lauren Gunderson

February 25-28, 2027

Nelda K. Balch Playhouse, 129 Thompson St. on Kalamazoo College’s campus.

Nan has decided to teach her abusive husband Kyle a lesson. With the help of her friend Simon (acting as here emotional- and actual -cheerleader), a stripper named Sweetheart, and the words of William Shakespeare, she tape Kyle to a chair and forces him to watch as they reenact scenes from thier painful past. In the piece de resistance, they plan to cover the room in meat and honey so that 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.

A Midsummer’s Night Dream

by William Shakespeare

May 13-16, 2027

Nelda K. Balch Playhouse, 129 Thompson St. on Kalamazoo College’s campus.

Four young lovers- Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius -flee into a magical forest, leading to comical chaos as fairy king Oberon (who has his own relationship problems) and mischievous Puck use love potions to meddle with their affections, causing confusion, jealousy, and unexpected parings, all while a troupe of amateur actors rehearse a play in the same woods… the course of true love never did run smooth!