WEST CHESTERFIELD, N.H.-Actors Theatre Playhouse (ATP) announces its 2026 season, bringing an array of stories to the stage, with 10-minute plays, a 20th-century masterwork, a heartbreaking docudrama, an intimate examination of teaching and parenting, and a variety show from yesteryear.
The season begins with the 10 Minute Play Festival, ATP’s annual theatrical potpourri, featuring seven mini-plays organizers say aim “to excite, amuse, and move audiences. Can Death get a break? Will a home care nurse cheer a stubborn patient? Can a villain find the perfect thing to say to his captive? Audiences will learn the answers to these questions and more.” Performances run June 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, and 20.
Following that, ATP will present Harold Pinter’s bizarre drama The Caretaker. When the quiet Aston brings an eccentric drifter home to his lowly flat, it results in knife threats, interior decorating schemes, and a broken Buddha in this play from one of the 20th century’s greatest playwrights. Performances run July 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, and 25.
In August, ATP will present 26 Pebbles by Eric Ulloa. Using interviews from real residents, this moving docudrama shares how the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting forever changed the community of Newtown, Connecticut, and how they found hope. Performances run Aug. 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, and 22.
September brings two productions to the ATP stage, beginning with Class by Iseult Golden and David Horan. This powerful play takes place in a classroom, where students, parents, and teachers all have lessons to learn. This production reunites the cast that performed the North American premiere of this beautiful Irish play in 2025 at the Hooker-Dunham Theater. Performances run Sept. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, and 19.
The season closes with Spotlight on the 1930s, a variety evening of songs, scenes, and poems from a pivotal American decade. Directors Lin Sneider and Wendy Almeida return with another delightful evening in their “Spotlight” series, this time showing us how far we’ve come over the last century, and how little may have changed. Performances run Sept. 24, 25, 26, and 27.
Tickets for Actors Theatre Playhouse shows are available at atplayhouse.org. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. All tickets are $17.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.