A.R.T. Reveals First 2026/27 Titles, Including 1972 World Premiere Rock Opera
A.R.T. will begin its season August 12 at the Loeb Drama Center with Rhinoceros, directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University has revealed the first three titles of its 47th Season. From August 2026 through January 2027, A.R.T. will produce and present three productions at the Loeb Drama Center and Farkas Hall in Harvard Square. In May 2027 A.R.T. will welcome audiences to its first production in the theater’s new home, the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Creativity & Performance.
A.R.T. will begin its season August 12 at the Loeb Drama Center with RHINOCEROS, directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus. In Eugène Ionesco’s landmark play, one man is forced to decide: will he follow the crowd amidst pressures to conform or stand his ground and hold on to his humanity. The production will feature a new adaptation by American Repertory Theater of Derek Prouse’s translation. Rhinoceros will be the final production Paulus directs at Harvard Square’s Loeb Drama Center before A.R.T. moves to its new Boston home next year.
Starting October 27 at Harvard’s Farkas Hall, A.R.T. will produce 1972. The world-premiere rock opera is inspired by true stories of the Janes, an underground network of courageous women who risked everything to provide a choice to women with nowhere to turn. 1972 is written by musician-activist Chadwick Stokes of the Boston-based indie bands DISPATCH and State Radio with Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam, Waitress the musical) and features an ensemble of actor/musicians that includes Stokes.
Beginning December 4 at the Loeb Drama Center, A.R.T. will present the Helen Hayes Award winner MEXODUS. The hip-hop musical reveals a hidden chapter of American history: an underground railroad for freedom-seekers across the Rio Grand into Mexico. Created by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, Mexodus features live-looped music as layered as our country’s past.
The inaugural production at the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Three- and four-play subscriptions starting at $167 (including a $25 per order subscription administration fee) will be available to A.R.T. supporters beginning in late April, to renewing subscribers on May 7, and the general public on May 21. Subscriptions include an invitation to an exclusive first-look event at the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance to be held in February 2027. Visit AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/Subscribe for more information.
Single tickets to Rhinoceros go on sale June 25. Single ticket on-sale dates for subsequent productions will be announced in the coming weeks.
RHINOCEROS
By Eugène Ionesco
Translated by Derek Prouse
Adapted by American Repertory Theater
Directed by Diane Paulus
AUG 12 – SEP 20, 2026 | Loeb Drama Center (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge)
Everything seems normal one Sunday morning…until it’s not. One by one, friends and colleagues transform into rhinoceroses, and Berenger is forced to decide: will he follow the crowd or stand his ground? As resonant as when it premiered in the wake of the Second World War, Rhinoceros reminds us of the importance of holding on to our humanity amidst mounting pressures to conform. This new adaptation by A.R.T. based on Derek Prouse’s seminal translation of Eugène Ionesco’s landmark play is staged by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (“one of the most imaginative forces working in theater” –Broadway.com), directing her final production at the Loeb Drama Center before the A.R.T.’s move to its new home in Allston, the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance.
1972, A Rock Opera
Music and Lyrics by Chadwick Stokes
Book by Chadwick Stokes and Jessie Nelson
Directed by Jessie Nelson
OCT 27 – NOV 22, 2026 | Farkas Hall at Harvard University (12 Holyoke Street, Cambridge)
When pregnant 19-year-old Hannah flees an abusive relationship, she finds unexpected camaraderie with three outcasts riding the rails of America, outrunning ghosts of their own. After barely escaping an illegal abortion, she meets the Janes, an underground network of courageous women who risk everything to provide a choice to women with nowhere to turn. Inspired by true stories of these hidden heroes, this world-premiere rock opera fuels the ongoing fight for personal freedom. 1972 is written by musician-activist Chadwick Stokes of the Boston-based indie bands DISPATCH and State Radio with Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam, Waitress the musical). It features an ensemble of actor/musicians that includes Stokes.
MEXODUS
By Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson
Choreographed by Tony Thomas
Directed by David Mendizábal
DEC 4, 2026 – JAN 10, 2027 | Loeb Drama Center (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge)
A story reclaimed. A legacy looped. You know the story of the Underground Railroad that ran north—but what about the one than ran south, across the Rio Grande into Mexico? This hip-hop musical follows a freedom seeker and an unlikely ally as they forge a bond that transcends borders. With live-looped music as layered as our country’s past, this Helen Hayes Award-winning production reveals a hidden chapter of American history.
Goel Center Inaugural Production — To Be Announced
Starts May 2027 | Goel Center for Creativity & Performance (175 North Harvard Street, Boston)
For more than four decades, A.R.T. has created groundbreaking experiences at the Loeb Drama Center. In May 2027, the theater begins writing its next chapter at its new home. The inaugural production at the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance will be revealed in the coming weeks.
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