A new theatre company with its roots planted at the U of A is emerging in Northwest Arkansas with the goal of performing the works of William Shakespeare, as well as other classically-influenced plays, beginning in the summer of 2025.

The Arkansas Classical Theatre is taking shape under the direction of Steven Marzolf and Betsy Jilka, both members of the U of A Theatre Department, and David Jolliffe, professor emeritus of English and former holder of the Brown Chair in English Literacy.

The ACT launched in July of 2024 with a one-person production of The Player King by Darin Dahms. Marzolf performed the 75-minute play, which focuses on the lives and alliances of the famously theatrical 19th-century Booth family: Edwin, the father; Junius Brutus, the son and brother; and the notorious John Wilkes, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.

The ACT will expand in 2025 with performances of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing on June 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29 in the U of A's Global Campus Theatre on the Fayetteville Square, along with a series of school workshops on understanding and performing comedies and an array of public showcases in parks and recreational areas in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville.

"Several companies in Northwest Arkansas performed plays by Shakespeare in the summertime beginning in 2009," Marzolf said, "but those offerings came to halt with the pandemic. We hope to restore the summer-Shakespeare tradition while also giving ourselves permission to produce other plays that we're calling simply 'classically-influenced.'"

"We want our productions to be fun, accessible and family-friendly," Jilka added. "Shakespeare wrote for the masses, not for the elite. We want to be a treasured resource to delight artists, audiences and students and to tell stories that completely engage the people who come to our performances."

Jolliffe added a note about performance locations. "While we recognize that most people associate summer Shakespeare with the outdoors, we've found that it's just too hot to perform outdoors in June. So while we'll be offering showcases previewing the play in area parks, our main performances will be in the air-conditioned comfort of the Global Campus theatre."

For more information about the Arkansas Classical Theatre, write to the company at arkansasclassicaltheatre@yahoo.com or consult its website at www.arkansasasclassicaltheatre.com.