A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER And More Set for Austin Playhouse 2025-26 Season

Austin Playhouse has announced the 2025-26 Main Stage Season will include an outlandishly fun classic tale of alter egos and mistaken identities; the return of Hercule Poirot in a regional premiere; an Austin premiere of a thought-provoking historical thriller; a Tony Award -winning musical with non-stop laughs and a unique and soaring score; and a fast-paced new comedy set in the kitchen serving up an Austin premiere. Season subscriptions are available today – May 1 at austinplayhouse.com/subscriptions.

Additionally, the 2025-26 season will offer Second Stage productions, musical cabarets, and special events. Information on special performances and events will be announced at a later date.

“We have a large and diverse audience and an incredible company of actors. Our goal is always to build a season of plays that challenge, excite, and engage our community,” said Producing Artistic Director Lara Toner Haddock. “Our season opens with one of the best comedies ever written, filled with witty one-liners and comedic chaos, but at the center of this story about mistaken identities is this idea that ‘the truth is rarely pure, and never simple,' and that fascination with truth is something we carry throughout the season.”

“It's at the heart of Steven Dietz' new Agatha Christie-inspired comic-mystery, and Rajiv Joseph's thriller about how history becomes fiction and vice versa. It sparks the journey in our musical. In our final play, a brand-new Theresa Rebeck comedy, the characters all have to come to terms with the truth about what they really want from life,” continued Toner Haddock. “This next season is big, ambitious, so much fun, and I can't wait for the journey our artists and audiences will take together:”

2025-26 Season

The Importance of Being Earnest | September 19 – October 19, 2025

by Oscar Wilde

Fake names, real feelings, and plenty of tea to spill. Jack and Algernon invent alter egos to escape their duties, but get tangled in a mess including mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, and two extremely judgmental butlers. Wilde's razor-sharp wit skewers social conventions as Victorian etiquette turns into pure comedic chaos.

Peril in the Alps | November 21 – December 28, 2025 | REGIONAL PREMIERE

by Steven Dietz

Hercule Poirot is back in Steven Dietz's sequel to the hit comedy Murder on the Links! This diabolically funny romp travels to the snow-capped Alps, where a daring kidnapping and a web of eccentric suspects await. Inspired by Agatha Christie's Poirot Investigates, six actors play dozens of colorful characters in an exhilarating blend of suspense, humor, and theatrical magic.

Describe the Night | January 23 – February 15, 2026 | AUSTIN PREMIERE

by Rajiv Joseph

A gripping historical thriller tracing the blurred line between truth and fiction. Beginning in Poland, 1920, a war correspondent befriends an officer of the Russian Red Cavalry. In 1989, a Stasi agent spies on a woman in Dresden and falls in love. In 2010, an aircraft carrying Polish government officials crashes in Smolensk. Connecting seven lives over 90 years, this Obie Award-winner is a powerful and timely look at memory, misinformation, and how lies have the power to shape history in an increasingly unstable world.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder | April 10 – May 10, 2026

music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak

lyrics and book by Robert L. Freedman

A murderous musical farce with rapid-fire wit, a dazzling score…and a body count. When a charming but penniless young man discovers he's ninth in line to inherit the D'Ysquith family fortune, he begins a killer climb to the top, eliminating the eight heirs who stand in his way. The result is a wickedly funny battle for love, legacy, and a life of luxury.

Seared | May 29 – June 21, 2026 | AUSTIN PREMIERE

by Theresa Rebeck

The heat is on in this sizzling new comedy! A brilliant but temperamental chef creates a dish so good it puts his struggling restaurant on the map, but success comes with a side of chaos. As business booms, egos clash and loyalties are tested in this fiery battle between passion and profit. Perfect for fans of The Bear, Seared is filled with sharp dialogue, mouthwatering stakes, and a feast for the senses. Audiences will be up close to the action as Austin Playhouse is transformed into the intimate kitchen of a New York City restaurant.

Subscriptions and Ticketing Information: 2025-26 subscriptions available beginning today, May 1 at austinplayhouse.com/subscriptions. Pick either the All-Inclusive or Classic Subscription package option.

All-Inclusive 2025-26 Subscription Packages Start at $320 and Benefits Include:

·        Tickets for the 5-Play Main Stage Season

·        Tickets for all Second Stage Productions, Cabarets, and Special Events

·        Complementary Season Parking at UT Co-Op Garage

·        Early Reservations

·        Priority Seating

·        Hassle-Free Booking and Exchange Privileges

·        Discounts on Additional Tickets to Shows and Special Events

·        Option to attend more than one performance of a production

Classic 2025-26 Subscription Packages Start at $192 and Benefits Include:

·        Tickets for the 5-Play Main Stage Season

·        Early Reservations

·        Priority Seating

·        Hassle-Free Booking and Exchange Privileges

·        Discounts on Additional Tickets to Shows and Special Events

·        Option to add Discounted Season Parking at UT Co-Op Garage

·        Option to exchange one season production for a Second Stage production or special event