With The Compleat Works of Wllm Shakespeare (abridged), T2 kicks off the season with a fast-paced comedy that’s been called both “hilarious” and “side-splitting.” Shakespeare penned 37 plays in his lifetime. In a daring fit of insanity, T2 will perform all of them – in 90 minutes. This record-breaking marathon of Elizabethan virtuosity features three actors playing 63 roles in “the funniest, fastest ride ever through the Bard's bookshelf,” covering the comedies, the histories, the tragedies and some of the sonnets for good measure. T2 calls it “an an irreverent joy ride, perfect for Shakespeare fans and foes alike.”
Just in time for the holidays, T2 brings a world premiere by award-winning playwright, and T2 Artistic Director, Robert Ford. Twas the Night explores the behind-the-scenes drama of a fictitious Chicago radio station. It’s Christmas Eve, 1954, the last night of a popular serial radio drama that’s on its way to television...but which performers will go, and which will be left behind? T2 says, “This enchanting blend of nostalgic music, gorgeous storytelling and timeless charm is sure to become a holiday favorite.”
T2’s third show, Underneath the Lintel, follows a small-town librarian from Holland, whose sheltered life is changed forever when the library receives a returned book, 113 years overdue. A note scribbled in the margin and an unclaimed dry-cleaning ticket spur him to break his daily routine to solve a mystery that spans continents and centuries. Underneath the Lintel, which ran Off-Broadway at the Soho Playhouse in 2001-02, is the funny and poignant story of one man’s stubborn search for an answer, and what happens when the answers turn into questions.
Mauritius, T2’s fourth offering, turns a darkly comic eye on greed, money, and...stamp collecting. In this 2007 Broadway thriller, the stakes are high when estranged half-sisters inherit a book of rare stamps that may include the "crown jewel" of the stamp-collecting world. Their battle for possession takes a dangerous turn when three rival collectors enter the sisters' world, willing to go to any lengths to stake their claim on the find. Mauritius is a gripping blend of sharp comedy and heart-pounding drama that combines the best of Hitchcock, Chandler and Mamet.
T2 will complete its season with the second annual Arkansas New Play Festival, continuing its mission to develop new plays for the American stage. This year’s festival will feature staged readings of three new plays by professional playwrights and three by high school students throughout Arkansas.