Mexodus and Brokeback Mountain Will Be Part of Arena Stage's 2026-27 Season

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced the final three productions of its 2026-27 season: Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson’s Mexodus, Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates: End Game, and the East Coast premiere of Ashley Robinson’s Brokeback Mountain.

They will join The Fruits of Our Labor and Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?, both now in performances, Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show (December 4-23), the US regional premiere of Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie (January 8, 2027-March 7, 2027), and the first in-the-round staging of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Purpose (March 12, 2027-May 2, 2027).

The Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award–winning Mexodus will run January 29, 2027-March 7, 2027, in the Kreeger Theater. This hip-hop musical, written by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, uses instruments to build a live soundscape each night and tell the story of an untold chapter of American history about the Underground Railroad heading south to Mexico. Directed by David Mendizábal (also costume designer), with choreography by Tony Thomas, the musical will return with the original creative team, including Riw Rakkulchon (set designer), Mextly Couzin (lighting designer), and Tony Award winner Mikhail Fiksel (sound designer). The cast will be announced at a later date.

Two-time Emmy nominee Theresa Rebeck reunites with Tony Award winners John Benjamin Hickey and Julie White to reprise their roles as writer, director, and star, respectively, in the follow-up to Rebeck’s 2003 comedy Bad Dates, with the DC premiere of Bad Dates: End Game, running April 23, 2027-June 6, 2027. This sequel finds Haley—now 58 and widowed—as she navigates new technology and dating apps. The full creative team will be announced at a later date.

Adapted by Ashley Robinson from Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx’s short story, with songs by Dan Gillespie Sells, Brokeback Mountain will run July 9, 2027-August 29, 2027, closing out the season. In the summer of 1963, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist meet while tending sheep on an isolated Wyoming mountain, and their unexpected connection becomes a love that endures across two decades. The full cast and creative team will be announced at a later date.