THEATER
Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre continues its run of a one-act adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” 6:30 p.m. today and Friday in the Market Square, The Village at Hendrix, 1705 Altus St., Conway. Pre-show music starts at 6. Admission is pay what you can, with a suggested donation of $25 per person. Visit tinyurl.com/yc38x84d.
And Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, closes its run of “Leading Ladies” by Ken Ludwig, 7:30 p.m. today-Saturday. Opening May 28: “Driving Miss Daisy.” Buffet opens 90 minutes before curtain. (501) 562-3131; murrysdp.com.
Opening Tuesday and kicking off the summer season at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St., Little Rock: the world premiere of Steve H. Broadnax III’s play with music, “Me and the Devil,” based upon the legend of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the Infernal One at a Southern crossroads to achieve supernatural mastery of the guitar. 7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through June 8. (501) 378-0405; TheRep.org.
MUSIC
Country star Tracy Lawrence performs, with opening acts Clara Rae & Sam Sparks, at 7:30 p.m. in First Financial Music Hall, 101 E. Locust St. in El Dorado. (870) 444-3007; eldomad.com.
ART AND EXHIBITS
Work by five University of Arkansas alumni, the 2024 recipients of artLAUNCH grants that provide early-career alumni with funding and mentorship opportunities to accelerate their artistry, opens Saturday and remains on display through June 30 in the Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art + Design at UA Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Email byoung2@ualr.edu.
The “64th Young Arkansas Artists” exhibition, showcasing works by K-12 students from across the state, goes on display this weekend and stays up through Aug. 10 at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. The exhibition includes 39 works — three per grade level — chosen by a panel of museum and art professionals. Amfa.org.
“Field Notes,” photographs that “explore the collision between human disruption and nature’s resilience” by Gary Cawood, faculty member emeritus at UA Little Rock, remains on display through June 6 at the Argenta Library, 420 Main St., North Little Rock. Library hours are 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday-Friday. (501) 687-1061; NLRlibrary.org.
“Scenes from the 5 a.m. Studio,” drawings by Robert Bean, the former chair of the Painting and Drawing department at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts’ Windgate Art School and a former instructor at UA Little Rock’s School of Art, remains on display through June 13 at Acansa Gallery, 413A Main St., North Little Rock. The show consists of 70 works, including quick gesture drawings that Bean created in his studio after waking up long before the crack of dawn and drawings he created later in the day for his art students at Mills University Studies High School in Little Rock. Gallery hours are 9:30 s.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Call (501) 416-0973 or visit ACANSA.org.
At the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, studio photographs by the late Kwame Brathwaite, who started out in the 1960s using photography to promote “Black is Beautiful,” through Oct. 12. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. (501) 372-4000; arkmfa.org.
Cantrell Gallery, officially reopened in its new space, 8202 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, is showing “Treehouse Treasures: a collector’s collection” Part 2 through Saturday May 24, artworks from the collection of the gallery’s original owner, Helen Scott, who is down-sized her home. The gallery is also celebrating 55 years in business. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. (501) 224-1335.
At UA Little Rock’s Windgate Center of Art + Design, “Beverly Buys: Gone But Not,” 11 cyanotypes by Hot Springs photographer Beverly Buys, is on display through May 30 in the Focus Gallery, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. “Dawn Holder: Strange Meetings,” mixed-media ceramics by Holder, a sculptor and installation artist, is on display through July 11 in the North and South Galleries, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. And in UA Little Rock’s Fine Arts Building, “On the Horizon,” oil paintings by William Beckman, is on display 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays through June 30 in Gallery One.
And “Crimson Moon,” pieces from the jewelry collection of Leesa Renshaw, remains on display, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday through June 1 at ESSE Museum and Store, 1510 Main St., Little Rock, (501) 916-9022; essepursemuseum.com.