Classical Theatre Company Unveils 2026-2027 Season Featuring Arms and the Man & Hedda Gabler

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Classical Theatre Company has announced the lineup for its 2026-2027 19th Mainstage Season. As the only professional theatre company in the State of Texas that solely produces classical drama on a year-round basis, CTC only produces plays that are 100 or more years old.

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CTC will be marking its upcoming season with a pair of plays that examines the bounds and societal expectations that are placed on women through both comedy and tragedy. In the fall, CTC will be returning to the iconic DeLuxe Theater in the historic Fifth Ward. After opening in 1941 as a movie theater, the DeLuxe spent decades as a landmark location for film. Then in 2015, an agreement with the City of Houston and the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation brought about major renovations to the DeLuxe, bringing it new life as a state-of-the-art performance venue, event hall, and art gallery. Our second production will be produced at the beautiful Main Street Theater Times Boulevard location in Rice Village. After a 2015 renovation, this legendary local gem of a theatrical facility received a substantial upgrade, making it a modern space for the 21st century. Classical Theatre Company is proud to have both the DeLuxe Theater and Main Street Theater Times Boulevard as its performance spaces for the upcoming season.

The upcoming season's slate will kick off in October with a return to the master of language and skewer of social class, George Bernard Shaw , in his delightful farce, Arms and the Man. Then, in the winter, the final Mainstage production of the season will be one of the great tragedies of modern drama, Henrik Ibsen 's Hedda Gabler. “We saw great success a couple of seasons ago when we offered a slate of female-centric plays, and the state of things hasn't changed much to suggest that it wouldn't be successful again,” says CTC Executive Artistic Director, John Johnston . “A comedy-tragedy combo was the core component in our Medea and The Taming of the Shrew season in 2023-24. We hope that we'll find the same triumphs this season upcoming.”

The tandem of plays focuses on a pair of strong central female characters in Raina Petkoff in Arms and the Man and Hedda in Hedda Gabler. While both women feel restricted by the rigid social codes of their time, their motivations center on how they handle the gap between fantasy and reality. Raina begins the play motivated by a “romantic sham.” She performs the role of the idealized heroine because she believes in the glory of war and high-society love, but she is ultimately motivated by a secret desire for honesty. When Captain Bluntschli challenges her pretensions, she feels a sense of relief and chooses to embrace a practical, grounded life. By contrast, Hedda is motivated by a desperate need for control and aesthetic beauty in a world she finds ugly and boring. Unlike Raina, who finds freedom by dropping her mask, Hedda feels her mask is a cage; she doesn't want a “practical” life – she wants to exert power over others' destinies to compensate for her own lack of purpose. While Raina's journey is one of growth and adaptation, Hedda's is one of destruction and despair, as she would rather face anything than accept the mundane reality that Raina eventually welcomes. “I absolutely love the contrast between the women in these plays,” says Johnston. “I hope that our audiences will as well.”

By George Bernard Shaw Directed by John Johnston October 22 – November 2, 2026

The Classical Theatre Company will start out the season with a sparklingly witty farce by George Bernard Shaw in Arms and the Man. It is the company's first return to Shaw since 2017's highly-acclaimed Mrs. Warren's Profession.

Set during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War, Arms and the Man is a satire that deconstructs the romanticized myths about war and marriage. The story begins when Raina Petkoff, a young Bulgarian woman steeped in idealistic notions of heroism, hides Captain Bluntschli, a pragmatic Swiss mercenary fighting for the Serbians who views war as a professional nuisance rather than a glorious pursuit. When the war ends and Raina's falsely heroic fiancé, Sergius, returns, the performative nature of their "higher love" collapses under the weight of reality.

“We're excited to get back to Shaw. Honestly, I think this play might be his funniest,” says Executive Artistic Director, John Johnston . “The farcical elements coupled with his brilliant witty language make Arms and the Man one of his finest works. I especially love the way Shaw lambasts societal norms and expectations through humor. Raina is a strong central character, and we get the chance to follow along with her on her journey of revelation.”

Directed by CTC Executive Artistic Director, John Johnston , who most recently directed last season's Othello, and appeared on CTC's stage when he portrayed Joseph Surface in The School for Scandal in 2023.

By Henrik Ibsen Directed by John Johnston February 11 – February 27, 2027

The winter production will be Classical Theatre Company's first foray into Henrik Ibsen 's work since 2020's award-winning production of Peer Gynt.

Hedda Gabler is a psychological tragedy that follows the title character, who is a bored and aristocratic woman that feels trapped by her recent marriage to the dull academic Jørgen Tesman, and the stifling social expectations of her life. Craving power and aesthetic beauty in a world she finds mundane, Hedda begins to manipulate those around her, most notably her former lover, Ejlert Løvborg, a brilliant but self-destructive writer. Driven by jealousy and a desire to influence a human destiny, Hedda orchestrates Løvborg's downfall, only to find herself trapped by the blackmail of the cynical Judge Brack. Hedda is left only to face the ultimate choice.

“Hedda Gabler is the last of Ibsen's major plays that we have left to produce. He's a playwright that I have come to dearly love over the years,” says CTC Executive Artistic Director John Johnston . “Our journey began in 2010 with Ghosts and has led to numerous critically-acclaimed productions of his plays including A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People. Ibsen's insights into societal machinations and expectations are unrepentant, and sadly, still relevant to this day.”

Directed by CTC Executive Artistic Director, John Johnston , who most recently directed last season's Othello, and appeared on CTC's stage when he portrayed Joseph Surface in The School for Scandal in 2023.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/houston/article/ARMS-AND-THE-MAN-and-HEDDA-GABLER-Set-For-Classical-Theatre-Company-2026-2027-Season-20260513)._