The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, based in the heart of Arkansas, is the state’s only professional Shakespeare company. Each year it produces a selection of the Bard’s plays, along with other productions, in its summer festival in Conway. Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, which has been featured in the New York Times, is also a major educational force in Arkansas, providing performance and production opportunities for central Arkansas school children and and college students at the University of Central Arkansas.

This professional company brings respected and experienced Shakespearean actors to Arkansas for each season, producing vibrant, engaging, lively and provocative performances for all Arkansans.

Founded on December 1, 2006, the mission of AST is to entertain, engage, and enrich the community by creatingprofessional and accessible productions of Shakespeare and other works that promote educational opportunities, community involvement, and the highest artistic standards. In pursuing this mission, we seek to be a source of pride and an invaluable resource to our University, our community, and to greater central Arkansas.

The AST operates under the aegis of the University of Central Arkansas Foundation. The UCA Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists solely for the benefit of the University of Central Arkansas through private fund raising and solicitations that provide scholarships, program needs and department needs along with current operating funds for the UCA Foundation.