Two of Bloomington-Normal’s theater companies have announced their 2026-27 seasons, bringing a wide range of plays and musicals to the Twin Cities.
This upcoming season will serve as a new chapter for the Community Players Theatre as they begin their first full season after renovating their theater. The Nomad Theatre Company’s third season will continue their site-specific shows and step back in time, returning to a site from their early days.
Community Players Theatre
The Community Players Theatre is back at their venue on Robinhood Lane in Bloomington for all of the shows in their 104th season. Kicking off the season is play Angels in America [Part One: Millennium Approaches] by Tony Kushner, running Sept. 11-20.
Nine-time Tony Award-winning musical Pippin by Stephen Schwartz takes the stage next on Nov. 6-22, followed by Barbeque, a comedy about a dysfunctional family, running Jan. 8-17, 2027. Going back in time, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins follows nine individuals who have assassinated or attempted to assassinate the American President of the United States and runs March 5-21, 2027.
She Kills Monsters, a dramatic comedy from Qui Nguyen, follows a woman who searches for her late-sister’s spirit through the world of fantasy role-playing games. The show runs May 7-16, 2027. The season will conclude with a production of Disney’s Frozen, featuring music from the Academy Award-winning film as well as new songs written specifically for the stage production. The family friendly musical will run for three consecutive weekends, from July 9-25, 2027.
The Community Players Theatre also offers other performance and show opportunities throughout the year, in addition to their mainstage productions. Season tickets are on sale now.
Nomad Theatre Company
Nomad’s third season as a year-round company will continue their site-specific productions, embracing both familiar and new locations.
Opening in September, the roaming theatre troupe is returning to the bar scene, with its opening production of One More Round, a suite of award-winning, short plays to the Smash House Tavern from Sept. 11-20. Chris Tinaglia is set to direct the 10-minute plays, all of which will be announced at a later date.
Johnna Adam’s Gidion’s Knot, directed by Illinois Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Robert Quinlan, will bring audiences to a classroom at Heartland Community College. Running March 12-21, 2027, the play tells the intimate story of a mourning mother and teacher as they explore grief and responsibility.
The third site-specific play, Groundwork, is both inspired by and playing at The Coffeehouse in Uptown Normal. This production will bring together an inaugural “Groundwork cohort” of four Central Illinois playwrights, where each playwright will write their own story inspired by The Coffeehouse and the connections made within it. The play directed by Kayla Pulliam will run May 21-30, 2027, connecting the four individual stories to make “one unified audience experience,” said a press release.
Playwright applications are open July 1-25, 2026.
Nomad’s Detour Projects, additional pop-up performances or short-run productions, will also take place throughout the season alongside mainstage productions.
Nomad will celebrate “spooky season” with the Downtown Spirit Stroll, a theatrical walking tour directed by Dave Krostal running Oct. 23-25 in Downtown Bloomington.
In January 2027, Nassim Soleimanpour’s experimental play White Rabbit, Red Rabbit will tell a story about contemporary Iran and power, in a no-director, no-rehearsal experience. Each night, a new actor will take the stage, opening a sealed envelope containing the script, where they experience the play for the first time alongside the audience. The location will be announced at a later date for the shows running Jan. 15-17, 2027.
In honor of Women’s History Month, HERstory returns in March 2027, offering an immersive reenactment of historical female changemakers and heroes throughout the book stacks of the Bloomington Public Library.
