Los Alamos Little Theatre

“Is there no play, to ease the anguish of a torturing hour?” 

In Los Alamos this season, there are six.

Los Alamos Little Theatre continues its long tradition of bringing high-quality live theater to the community with an incredible season line-up that begins with the Bard.

Because last year’s production of “Julius Caesar” was enormously popular, LALT is coming back this year with more Shakespeare in the Park. In collaboration with the Band O’Lears, LALT will present the comedy “Much Ado About Nothing” at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays July 24-Aug 8, with a special “Brunch Ado” showing at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, on the lawn at the Hans Bethe House with the Friday August 7 performance at the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos.

The outdoor, pay-what-you-will performances are made possible by generous support from the Los Alamos Historical Society. 

“Come enjoy this enduring and delightful comedy about love, honor, beards, and all the other things The Bard liked to make fun of,” said Director Thomas Graves.

In September, the laughs continue with the “An Evening of One-Act Plays.” This two-for-one production features Anton Chekhov’s “The Proposal,” directed by longtime LALT director Ken Milder and Alice Gerstenberg’s “Overtones,” directed by Emily Stark. Locals might remember Stark’s previous foray into directing, May 2025’s popular production of Michael Frayn’s “Copenhagen.” 

One of these period pieces concerns two people who can agree on only one thing: that they want to marry each other. The other features two courteous women in conversation — but played by four actors: both their facades and their (usually) hidden alter egos. Performances will be Sept. 11-26. The evening will offer all the hallmarks of great theater, including beautiful sets from Hadley Hershey and Katy Korkos, which are already underway.

Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” awaits local audiences November 7-21. At its helm will be Seona Zimmerman, director of January 2024’s “The Play That Goes Wrong,” the hugely successful play written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields that ran to full houses at the local Performing Arts Center nearly every show.

In this long-running, internationally-acclaimed mystery, seven strangers at a remote countryside guesthouse in London discover that a killer is in their midst. As each of the characters reveal their sordid pasts, the fun is in predicting whodunnit. “The Mousetrap” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.  www.concordtheatricals.com.

Celebrate the new year with LALT’s bi-annual short-play festival: The 8 x 10s. This year’s slate promises to offer more local and regional scripts, as well as opportunities for new actors and directors to gain their theater chops. Performances will be Jan 22-31.

“We are so excited to bring the 8x10s to you for the ninth time,” said producer Emily Stark, who produced the festival in 2025 as well. “This year’s theme is ‘Nine Lives’ and we can’t wait to see what our local playwrights, directors, and actors create!”

Los Alamos directors are welcome to apply by July 31, and playwrights are invited to submit scripts by Oct. 2. Visit https://lalt.org/2026/07/02/call-for-scripts-and-directors-2/ for more information.

In March, LALT considers the age-old question, If I think numbers are the best, but you prefer the alphabet, how can we ever get along? Join Milo as he quests through the Lands Beyond to finally put this to rest with LALT’s production of “The Phantom Tollbooth,” written by Susan Nanus and based on the classic children’s book by Norton Juster. 

Kelly Dolejsi and Ashley Horner direct this lovable tale March 12-21, with Jocelyne Dolejsi, an 8th-grader at Los Alamos Middle School, assisting.

“I am so excited to bring ‘The Phantom Tollbooth’ to Los Alamos,” said Horner. The play is so much fun and has hilarious characters that bring together important aspects of our community (and life) in the best way!” “The Phantom Tollbooth” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.  www.concordtheatricals.com.

The season will close with Linda Taylor directing the melodrama we’ve all been waiting for: the third part of the Inspector Pratt Series, “Death by Fatal Murder,” April 30-May 15. 

Audiences have been eagerly anticipating the finale of Peter Gordon’s trilogy since Taylor’s previous installments of the series, “Murdered to Death” (2015) and “Secondary Cause of Death” (2018). 

This time, Pratt meets the new owner of the house, Nancy Allwright, and soon he is embroiled in more mystery, aided and abetted by Miss Maple and Constable Thomkins. Upper-crust Ginny and Italian gigolo Enzo help with enquiries but danger soon looms with an unexpected arrival, and a frightening suggestion by Welsh busybody, Blodwyn Morgan. “Death by Fatal Murder”  is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service.  www.concordtheatricals.com.

We have revised our performance schedule for “Much Ado About Nothing” for this weekend! Our performances slated for the Hans Bethe House on Bathtub Row on Friday and Saturday evenings are canceled, but we are still having our “Brunch Ado” show at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Note that the location has moved to a nearby indoor venue, The Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, where you can see the show in air-conditioned comfort. The church is located at 1738 North Sage Street in Los Alamos, and we will have some local businesses offering their delicious wares to enjoy while you catch the show.

We invite all to attend. Though cast illness canceled the show’s opening weekend, this hilarious Shakespeare show has already had a sneak preview, and was very well-received. Don’t miss out on seeing it!

Our schedule remains the same for our final weekend, 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Hans Bethe House. See you there, good cuz!