Harlequin Productions Unveils its Landmark 35th Season

Harlequin Productions’ 2026 Season was revealed on Saturday,  August 9, at Harlequin’s Annual Gala and 2026 Season Announcement at the State Theater in  downtown Olympia. The night featured a multimedia presentation hosted by Finance Director Joe  Hyer and Producing Artistic Director Aaron Lamb, assisted by an ensemble of actors from current  and past seasons. As an explanation for the “Home/Land” theme, an excerpt from Mr. Lamb’s  statement reads, in part: 

The question I'm asking of all of us for 2026: how do we transform this land into a home big enough  for everyone? How do we listen to voices that challenge our assumptions and find that our capacity  to hold complexity - to sit with disagreement - is actually our greatest strength? How can we find  pride in where we live? How can we be proud of who we are? 

Of note:  

• Two productions will be performed in repertory. Our Town will open October 2, 2026. Our  Town and Sanctuary City will rotate performances from October 9 – October 25, 2026. Our  Town will then continue to run until November 1. 

• The Bold Voices performance series introduced last year will continue in 2026: two Staged  Readings of new work and Harlequin Miscast! The show titles, descriptions, and dates are  listed with the full season below. All three events may be purchased together at a 20%  discount as a Bold Voices Subscription. 

• 2026 Subscriptions may be purchased online, by mail via  the Subscription Form in the 2026 Season Brochure, or by calling the Harlequin Box Office,  Tues – Sat 12-5:30pm, at 360-786-0151. Single tickets for the 2026 Season will be available for purchase on November 28, 2025.  

The 2026 “Home/Land” Season: 

January 23 – February 8, 2026: Wait Until Dark 
By Frederick Knott 
Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher 
Directed by Aaron Lamb

She can’t see them—but she knows they’re there. In this white-knuckle thriller, Susan Hendrix,  newly blind, seems an easy mark when three ruthless criminals invade her Greenwich Village  apartment. Forty-seven years after its 1966 premiere, Jeffrey Hatcher has adapted Frederick  Knott’s (Dial ‘M’ for Murder) original script with crackling, claustrophobic, and calculated  efficiency. When the lights go out, survival comes down to nerve, instinct, and the element of  surprise. As the climax builds, Susan discovers that her blindness just might be the key to her  escape, but she and her tormentors must wait until dark to play out this classic thriller’s chilling  conclusion. 

March 6 - 29, 2026: The Foreigner 
By Larry Shue 
Directed by Aaron Lamb 

When a painfully shy Englishman lands at a rustic Georgia lodge, his fear of small talk inspires a  harmless fib: he doesn’t speak English! But as locals pour out secrets, Charlie becomes the perfect  confidant—and whispers of a secret society stir old resentments beneath the lodge’s pastoral  calm. As laughter turns to high stakes, Charlie must summon unexpected courage—and maybe foil  a sinister plot. 

April 18 - 19, 2026: Bold Voices – The Children 
By Lucy Kirkwood 

The first staged reading in our Bold Voices series, Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children is a taut, unsettling  exploration of aging, legacy, and environmental responsibility — a surprisingly funny, yet razor sharp thriller. 

May 1 - 17, 2026: Where the Summit Meets the Stars 
By Frank Henry Kaash Katasse 
Directed by Josephine Keefe 

When a near-death experience derails her flight through Southeast Alaska, Rose awakens to find  herself in the care of the kind man who pulled her to safety. But who is this mysterious stranger?  And how is it possible that she survived? As they journey by boat through the darkness and fog,  Rose untangles the mysteries of her past, questions the world around her, and comes to an  inescapable crossroads. Driven by Tlingit song, dance, and ancestral wisdom, this heartfelt drama  honors Indigenous voices and stories that echo across time. Some journeys don’t end at the  summit—they reach all the way to the stars. 

June 19 – July 19, 2026: Million Dollar Quartet 
Book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux 
Inspired by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins 

December 4, 1956. Sun Records. One legendary night. When a twist of fate brings Elvis Presley,  Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins into the same Memphis recording studio, music  history is made. Inspired by the true story of that once-in-a-lifetime jam session, Million Dollar  

Quartet is a Tony Award-nominated high-octane rock ’n’ roll musical packed with heart, history,  and hit after iconic hit. From “Blue Suede Shoes” to “Great Balls of Fire,” this electrifying  celebration of talent, fame, and raw sound takes you inside the night that changed music forever. 

August 8 - 9, 2026: Bold Voices – Sweat 
By Lynn Nottage 
Directed by Brian Tyrrell

The first staged reading in our Bold Voices series, Lynn Nottage’s Sweat brings us into a  neighborhood bar where friendships begin to splinter, long-held tensions erupt, and a town already  stretched thin is pushed to the brink. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this powerful, provocative drama  lays bare the intersection of race, class, and resilience in a country struggling to hold itself  together. 

August 21 – September 6, 2026: Barefoot in the Park 
A Co-Production with Taproot Theatre Company 
By Neil Simon 
Directed by Karen Lund 
Associate Directed by Aaron Lamb 

Paul and Corie Bratter are newlyweds in every sense of the word: he’s a straight-laced lawyer; she’s  a free spirit chasing her next thrill. Their sixth-floor Manhattan walk-up is riddled with leaks, bad  plumbing, and a paint job long overdue. After a six-day honeymoon, Corie’s eccentric mother  crashes the party, and their quirky attic neighbor, Velasco, drops in—literally—turning domestic  bliss into comic mayhem. As Paul’s pragmatism clashes with Corie’s spontaneity, only a barefoot  sprint through Washington Square can save their marriage. Smart, snappy, and full of heart, Tony  Award-winning Barefoot in the Park opened on Broadway in 1963 and ran for 1,530 performances,  becoming Neil Simon’s first smash hit and one of the ten longest-running plays in Broadway  history. Today, Simon’s landmark comedy remains an American stage treasure, its sparkling wit  and heartfelt charm as irresistible as ever. 

October 2 – November 1, 2026: Our Town 
Performed in Repertory with Sanctuary City 
By Thornton Wilder 
Directed by Aaron Lamb 

Winner of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece has stood as a timeless  pillar of the American stage. Through the simple rhythms of daily routine - from dawn’s first light to  the hush of twilight - the ordinary town of Grover’s Corners reveals a world both intimate and  boundless. A quiet revolution in storytelling, Our Town reminds us to notice life as we’re living it - because someday, even the ordinary will feel miraculous. Join the generations who have  discovered that even in the smallest moments, we can find the greatest truths. 

October 9 - 25, 2026: Sanctuary City 
Performed in Repertory with Our Town 
By Martyna Majok 

Unfolding beneath the glow of porch lights and the promise of close-knit streets, two teenagers  cling to each other for safety, for love, for hope. Childhood friends B and G — undocumented and  unseen — watch that promise fray when one earns a path to citizenship and the other is left  untethered and exposed. What begins as a pact of loyalty slowly fractures under the weight of adult  consequences. 

Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok's Sanctuary City asks the question: In a nation built on the  promise of opportunity, how do we determine who benefits? Where once belonging was measured  by front-porch waves and neighborhood gatherings, today it hinges on paperwork and the threat of  separation - or possibly far worse. 

November 14-15, 2026: Bold Voices - Harlequin Miscast!

It’s the chance of a lifetime for an actor: perform any song from the musical theater canon, even (in  fact, especially) if the piece is one you would never ordinarily be able to sing. Watch leading men  belt out ingenue ballads, comedic actors tackle dramatic arias, and performers of every type step  boldly outside their usual casting boxes. Inspired by MCC Theater's beloved annual tradition,  Harlequin Miscast! celebrates the joy of theatrical surprises and the magic that happens when  artists play against type. 

November 27 – December 24, 2026: Holiday 2026 

Ring in the Yuletide season with a heart-warming holiday show at Harlequin. We don’t yet know  exactly what we’ll put on the boards, but rest assured, there will be good cheer, voices raised in  song, and plenty of fun for the whole family!