About Us

Photo by Greg Henderson

History

Founded in 1976, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre is the state’s largest non-profit professional theatre company.

A member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT D), The Rep has produced more than 300 productions including 40 world premieres on its 354-seat MainStage and 99-seat black box SecondStage located in its historic building in downtown Little Rock.

Robert Hupp, Producing Artistic Director, leads a resident staff of designers, technicians and administrators in the creation of eight to ten productions for an annual audience in excess of 70,000 for MainStage productions, educational programming and touring. The Rep employs guest artists from across the country to produce works, created, rehearsed and built in downtown Little Rock, ranging from contemporary comedies and dramas to world premieres to the classics of dramatic literature.

Mission

Arkansas Repertory Theatre exists to create a diverse body of theatrical work of the highest artistic standards. With a focus on dramatic storytelling that illuminates the human journey, The Rep entertains, engages and enriches local and regional audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

The Rep aspires to create an artistic home for audiences and artists alike; a place that is at once innocent and sophisticated, which exists to break down the barriers, both real and imagined, that isolate human beings. It is the purpose of the theatre to tell life's stories through laughter and tears, through text and song, through movement and silence, and to magnify the power of those stories through all the creative crafts of the art form. The Rep strives to create theatre that reaffirms and celebrates life in all its wonderful and complicated manifestations.