Avant Bard Theatre is proud to announce its 36th season, which interrogates both the classics and our current days. The season begins with Avant Bard’s 10th Annual Scripts in Play Festival, which runs October 3-19 and features:
- A refreshing take on the Pygmalion myth that explores how AI is affecting our humanity – The Robotics of Love and Longing by Germaine Shames;
- A harrowing study of the role rehearsing the classics has in facing down dark forces – As We Like It by Oded Gross; and
- An envisioning of the mythic Orion as a trans man, whose loss leaves the goddess Artemis with a very human grief – Overcoming Orion by Abby Dunbar.
Then, starting in early 2026, Avant Bard delivers two dynamic spring productions: Two Gentlemen of Killarney, a timely adaptation by Séamus Miller (The Margriad, Coriolanus) that delivers an immigrant love-comedy with live traditional Irish music; and Ghost Limb — by Marisela Treviño Orta and directed by Elena Velasco — a haunting examination of authoritarianism set during Argentina’s Dirty War that draws poetic inspiration from the myth of Persephone and Demeter.
Season Schedule:
- 10th Annual Scripts in Play Festival (Oct. 2025) A decade of championing bold new works, this milestone festival features staged readings, talkbacks, and a celebration of playwriting:
- The Robotics of Love and Longing by Germaine Shames, directed by Kathleen Barth
Friday, Oct. 3, 7:30 pm, The Schnider Gallery
Sunday, Oct. 5, 2:00 pm, Mason Exhibitions – Arlington - As We Like It by Oded Gross, directed by Tracey Erbacher
Thursday, Oct. 9, 7:30 pm, The Filling Station (live music starts at 6:30)
Sunday, Oct. 12, 2:00 pm, MoCA Arlington - Overcoming Orion by Abby Dunbar, directed by Audra Jacobs
Friday, Oct. 17, 7:30 pm, The Schnider Gallery
Sunday, Oct. 19, 2:00 pm, Mason Exhibitions – Arlington
- The Robotics of Love and Longing by Germaine Shames, directed by Kathleen Barth
- Two Gentlemen of Killarney (March 5-28, 2026, Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, Arlington, VA). A timely immigrant love-comedy with music. Adapted from Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona, the story follows friends-turned-rivals from Ireland to America during the Great Famine, blending Shakespeare’s wit with traditional Irish tunes and delivering a dynamic celebration of love, immigration, and humanity.
- Ghost Limb (April 30-May 23, 2026, Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, Arlington, VA). A haunting examination of authoritarianism set during Argentina’s Dirty War that draws poetic inspiration from the Persephone and Demeter myth. When Consuelo’s son is “disappeared” by the military, she discovers a psychic link between her injured arm and her tortured child — and races to find him before it’s too late.
Tickets for Avant Bard’s 36th season are now available for purchase online.
In recent years the company has been asking themselves: “What part, if any, does theater — in particular, Avant Bard’s brand of theater — have to play in resisting the nihilism, intolerance, and authoritarianism plaguing the world?” This season is Avant Bard’s answer. May it inspire the spirit of resistance.
ABOUT AVANT BARD THEATRE
Avant Bard produces thought-provoking theater. They are dedicated to interrogating the classics and classical themes via innovative, bold approaches in intimate settings. Gratefully in its 36th season, Avant Bard has delivered high-quality, diverse, and accessible arts to the Washington, DC region since 1990.