The 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Soldier’s Play,” which inspired the acclaimed movie “A Soldier’s Story,” filmed partly in Fort Chaffee and Clarendon, opens Friday, Jan. 28, at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.
Early birds can catch a sneak preview of the show along with a discussion led by the play’s director, Gilbert McCauley, at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27. McCauley was last at the Rep directing August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” two years ago.
“A Soldier’s Play” will run through Feb. 20, and tickets are $28 for adults and $17.50 for students and children.
Clark Fuller’s drama is about an investigation of a murder of a black sergeant at a segregated Army camp in Louisiana in 1944. But, more than an investigative piece, Fuller’s work examines character, contradictions and prejudice. Fuller became the second black playwright to win the Pulitzer Prize. He co-founded the Afro-American Arts Theatre in Philadelphia, and he wrote the screenplay for “A Soldier’s Story.”
McCauley, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has directed Off Broadway plays and at regional theaters, as well as an August Wilson play at the National Theatre of Ghana.
The cast of 12 includes returning “The Piano Lesson” stars J. Bernard Calloway and Kevin E. Jones, both of whom have regional theater and television credits. Other cast members include Daryl DeLance Minefee, a Henderson State University graduate, and local actors Aaron Gentes, most recently seen in The Rep’s “Children of Eden,” Mark Whitman Johnson and Jermaine McClure, a former member of The Rep’s Young Company.
Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Wednesdays.
Friday’s opening night performance includes a post-show reception with the cast in the lobby. The Feb. 2 performance will be signed for the hearing impaired.
Call 378-0405 (or toll free 866-684-3737) for tickets or more information.

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