ACANSA/ACT 10 Minute Play Showcase 2026: A Review from North Little Rock

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Six Arkansas Playwrights Take the Spotlight During ACANSA Arts Festival of the South

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The ACANSA Arts Festival of the South is in full swing, and if the sold-out crowd I joined Monday night is any indication, Central Arkansas is ready to celebrate the arts!

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Running through September 26, the 11th ACANSA Arts Festival of the South brings music, theatre, visual art and other creative experiences to Little Rock and North Little Rock. Since its founding in 2014, ACANSA has made collaboration a major part of its mission, connecting arts organizations, venues and artists while welcoming performers from beyond the state.

I had already written a preview about this year's festival, but now I am getting to experience it.

My first stop was Monday, September 14, for the ACANSA/Argenta Contemporary Theatre 10-Minute Play Showcase at ACT II Sharon Heflin Performing Arts Education Center in North Little Rock.

And it was sold out!

A full house gathered to see six original short plays written by Arkansas playwrights and brought to life by Arkansas directors and performers. With each play limited to approximately ten minutes, there wasn't much time to ease us into the stories. Characters and situations had to grab us quickly before the lights changed and another world took over.

The evening opened with James Mainard O'Connell's King Rabbit , directed by Wyatt Hamilton and featuring Alexis McAlister, Susan Thomey, Mark Hansen and Stef Bailey.

A park bench along a rugged trail becomes the setting for an unusual encounter involving belief, myth and the search for a miracle. Thomey and Hansen absolutely cracked me up! Their characters' wholehearted belief in the legend of King Rabbit was infectious, and they had me buying into it right along with them.

In fact, I was completely convinced McAlister's character really was King Rabbit. I was ready to believe! Then Bailey entered and decided, for a moment, to claim the King Rabbit title for herself, adding another hilarious twist. The more seriously these characters took their strange situation, the funnier it became.

Next came Mark Mulkerin's The Right Time , also directed by Hamilton and featuring Jazmine Denney and Jameson Watkins.

This one about broke my heart. Denney and Watkins made their characters' connection feel genuine from the beginning as they faced the question of when the "right" moment had arrived for an incredibly difficult goodbye. Their natural chemistry and quiet reactions made ten minutes more than enough time for us to care about what happened to them.

Frank Harrison 's Grass Fed , directed by Erin Fowler and featuring Mary Faulkner Turriff and Debby Herden, closed out the first half.

Set on Halloween night, Grass Fed centers on a difficult conversation between a mother and her son's ex-girlfriend. When Herden's character tries to convince her to take her son back because of concerns about his mental health, I understood where this mother was coming from. She was worried about her child and desperately wanted someone she believed could help him.

But I understood Turriff's character even more when she told her no.

Herden allowed us to see the mother's desperation, while Turriff made it equally clear why her character couldn't accept responsibility for someone else's well-being at the expense of her own. Neither woman had to become the villain for the situation to be complicated, and I appreciated that.

After intermission, Scarlet Sims' Righteous Rage , directed by Jeremy Williams and featuring Diego Ladino, Adam Ryan Whitfield, Wil Wes, Marseiko Jackson and Alexandra Powell, took us into another complicated situation.

This one was tricky, and I think that was exactly the point.

For most of the play, Ladino's character isn't even in the room. The others are discussing accusations about his behavior toward women after an anonymous social media post surfaces. Without having all of the details, they have to decide what they believe and what they are willing to do about it.

Do you believe an anonymous accusation and take a stand in support of the #MeToo movement, or do you wait for more information and investigate before making a judgment that could permanently affect someone's life? At the same time, how do you make sure waiting for answers doesn't become an excuse to dismiss women who come forward?

That's a lot to unpack in ten minutes.

I loved how the angst kept building as Whitfield, Wes, Jackson and Powell's characters argued their positions. The conversation became increasingly heated and personal until they finally made their decision and walked out of the workplace.

Only then did Ladino enter.

After hearing everyone discuss his character, finally seeing the man at the center of the controversy added another layer to the ending. We still didn't have all the answers. Righteous Rage left us to wrestle with the uncertainty ourselves.

Williams also directed Charles Bonet's The Nazarene , featuring Jameson Watkins, Tyranni Hubbard and Ryan Bass.

Set in a quiet park at dusk, the story follows a man searching for peace who discovers getting away from the past isn't always as simple as changing your surroundings.

Though most of the plays brought their stories to conclusions that left me satisfied enough, The Nazarene had me wanting more—and I mean that as a compliment. When those ten minutes ended, I wasn't ready to leave these characters. I would love to see Bonet expand The Nazarene into a full-length play. I would absolutely come back to see where their story could go with more time.

Then came the finale, and once Miss 1977 got going, it was obvious why they saved this one for last.

Jack Shock's Miss 1977 , directed by Williams and featuring Jane Balgavy and Alexandra Powell, follows a former twirler approaching 50 who looks backward at who she once was while considering the woman she has become.

Balgavy embraced this character so completely that we believed every bit of her story. She was so, so funny! By the time she had us wrapped up in memories of sequins, twirling and former glory, I think we were all ready to grab some batons and twirl right along with her.

Powell was a wonderful partner, giving Balgavy plenty to play against while grounding the story through its humor and reflection.

For me, Miss 1977 was a definite festival hit!

To continue on with my ACANSA experience, I'm heading to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday, September 19, for Marie & Rosetta , and to say I'm excited may be an understatement.

Selena Mykenzie Gordon will play Marie Knight, with Miki Gaynor taking on Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I already love both actresses, and I am a huge fan of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, so yes, I'm going into this one with some serious fangirl energy!

George Brant 's Marie & Rosetta celebrates Tharpe, the Arkansas-born musician whose combination of gospel, blues and electric guitar helped lay the groundwork for rock and roll. The play centers on Tharpe and her musical partner and protégée Marie Knight as they rehearse and prepare to take their music on the road.

Tharpe was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, making her story especially fitting for a festival celebrating the arts of the South. Add Gordon and Gaynor to the equation, and you have me sitting here with my starry-heart eyes before I've even made it to the theatre.

The production is directed by Fergie Philippe , whose credits include Broadway's Hamilton and Camelot , as well as the 30th anniversary national tour of Disney's Beauty and the Beast . I cannot wait to see what this team creates.

And there is still plenty of ACANSA left to experience.

Saturday's Family Arts Day brings free hands-on activities for all ages to Argenta Green and connects with the Argenta Arts District's VIBE live music series. The Wonder Bread Years , which I am so sad about missing, is created and performed by Pat Hazell, who brings theatrical storytelling, stand-up comedy and childhood nostalgia to Argenta Contemporary Theatre. They promise this one to be hilarious!

On Thursday, September 24, Dementia Man – An Existential Journey comes to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. Written and performed by Samuel A. Simon, the autobiographical one-man work examines his experience following an Alzheimer's diagnosis and his search for hope, purpose and meaning.

King Cabbage Brass Band brings its mix of funk, soul, jazz, R&B and brass-band traditions to CALS Ron Robinson Theater Friday, September 25.

The festival concludes Saturday, September 26, with Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light at ACT II. I love that ACANSA ends in the same intimate space where my own festival experience began.

That's what I appreciate about ACANSA. In one festival, audiences can experience brand-new Arkansas plays, learn more about an Arkansas music pioneer, hear everything from brass-band music to acoustic folk, explore visual art and bring the family together for an afternoon of creativity. For more information and tickets, visit ACANSA's website at https://acansa.org/ .

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/little-rock/article/Review-ACANSAACT-10-MINUTE-PLAY-SHOWCASE-2026-at-Argenta-Contemporary-Theatre-in-North-Little-Rock-20260918)._