American Players Theatre unveils its 2026 slate

Aaron R. Conklin, Madison Magazine

You really have to respect American Players Theatre’s keen sense of timing. Just as the rain and winds of late October are chilling us all to the bone and making us long for some kind of warmth, the Spring Green company routinely unveils its next summer season and suddenly everything is sunshine, even if only for a moment.

There are plenty of familiar titles and playwrights on the docket for APT’s 2026 season, the company’s 47th, which was announced today. And, as usual, a few intriguing curveballs.

In the outdoor Hill Theater, the company’s first wave of shows typically starts off with a Shakespeare work, and next summer is no exception. APT Core Company member Laura Rook will continue to build her directorial chops with “As You Like It,” a pastoral comedy about two female friends forced to escape to a forest.

It’s only been two years since APT staged a Thornton Wilder play (2023’s production of “Our Town”), but it’s been two decades since they mounted a production of Wilder’s “The Matchmaker.” Children’s Theater of Madison Artistic Director Brian Cowing directs this comedy about Wilder’s Dolly Gallagher Levi, the woman who inspired the Broadway musical “Hello, Dolly!”

APT Artistic Director Brenda DeVita’s annual turn at the directorial helm is another family drama, but this one’s a classic set in post-imperialist Russia. It’s Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” a play APT hasn’t staged since 2001. She’ll be working from an adaptation by APT Core Company member Nate Burger.

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