Sundown Town

EXTENDED! February 4-27, 2011
in the Studio Theatre at Walton Arts Center's Nadine Baum Studios

by Kevin D. Cohea
directed by Kevin Christopher Fox

Commissioned by TheatreSquared and developed over two years at the Arkansas New Play Fest, Sundown Town is a significant new addition to the American stage. When an African American drifter wanders into a rural North Arkansas town in the summer of 1918, a law prohibiting "strangers" after dark threatens to tear the tight-knit community apart. Featuring more than a dozen bluegrass, folk and gospel songs performed by award-winning folk trio 3 Penny Acre, Sundown Town is an uncommon theatrical story of prejudice and redemption, persecution and hope. A T2 World Premiere.

Click to read bios of the cast and creative team for Sundown Town.

Recommended for ages 13+, with some adult language and violence.

Tickets are $22-24. Discounts available for groups and patrons under 30.
Click to download a PDF of the seating arrangement for Sundown Town.
Select "Buy Tickets" to view performance dates (Walton Arts Center website), Thursday through Sunday of each week.

Video directed by Kristopher Stoker; filmed and edited by Chuck Meré

RESCHEDULED: Please join us for an invited expert’s presentation:
Leave Town and Never Return:Racial Cleansing in Arkansas,, presented by Dr. Guy Lancaster
Tuesday, March 8, 7:00pm, Shiloh Museum of Ozark History
(corner of Johnson & Main, Springdale, AR)

As part of a special collaboration between the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History and TheatreSquared, Dr. Guy Lancaster, editor for the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, will present a program entitled, "Leave Town and Never Return: Racial Cleansing in Arkansas," Tuesday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. at the Shiloh Museum. "Dr. Lancaster has conducted extensive research on ‘sundown towns’ in Arkansas communities where white residents drove out all or most of their African American residents. According to Dr. Lancaster, some 100 towns in Arkansas are suspected to have been sundown towns, most of them located in the northern and western sections of the state," said Susan Young, museum outreach coordinator. For more information on the program by Dr. Lancaster, call the museum at (479) 750-8165.

The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History will also curate the Ozark African Americans Photo Exhibit, "No Disgrace: African Americans in the Arkansas Ozarks," featuring images from the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History collection (Late 1800s-Early 1900s) in the lobby of Nadine Baum Studios. The exhibit is open to the public beginning February 2, 2011.

Support for Sundown Town is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. Other partners include: the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History; Fayetteville A&P Commission; NWA Media; KUAF 91.3fm; and the Fayetteville Flyer.. The music of Sundown Town is made possible by underwriting support from Malcolm and Ellen Hayward.