PLAY OF THE MONTH series Schedule
All were presented LIVE on Zoom. If you missed any of the LIVE shows, you can still purchase a Series Pass and view the videos of all four plays ON DEMAND through May 31, 2021.
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021 at 8pm
WHATCHA DOIN? by Jacquelyn Priskorn
In Whatcha Doin?, a film student interviews a former child star turned voice over actor for a documentary project. Thrilled to witness Marnie's work-from-home recording studio in action, Raven is surprised to learn about the difficulties Marnie had while portraying the goofy, unattractive kid on a TV series, but even more so, Raven is curious about why Marnie is now unable to leave her home.
Directed by Theatre NOVA Producing Artistic Director, Diane Hill. Featuring Kate Stark and Megan Wesner.
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021 at 8pm
Four characters reveal what they've learned after being trapped within four respective film/theatre genres (Musical theatre, documentary, slapstick, and horror.) A hilarious comedy exploring the role of art in life and society.
Directed by Theatre NOVA Founding Artistic Director, Carla Milarch. Cast: Jennifer Felts, Nate John-Mark, Dan Johnson and David Moan.
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Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 8pm
MORTAL FOOLS by Catherine Zudak
Captain Michaels, an intelligence officer stationed in Afghanistan, has to determine whether or not an Army Major committed treason for the love of a beautiful war correspondent, Lailah. The case appears open and shut, but Michaels has his doubts. He calls on a civilian contractor, his ex-wife, to help him uncover the truth. But, can his ex convince him the reporter is blameless as well? Or will Michaels have to terminate Lailah's life? Directed by Theatre NOVA Producing Artistic Director, David Wolber. Cast: Alysia Kolascz, Patrick Loos, Bryan Lark and Shelby Seeley.
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Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 8pm
THE W.I.T.C.H. by Morgan Breon
THE W.I.T.C.H. shows the joys, pains, and struggles of Ms. Morgan, a newly hired Behavior Specialist at a Detroit public high school. When hope begins to crack open her students’ hearts and minds, Ms. Morgan’s office might just be the most dangerous room in the entire school. Directed by Theatre NOVA Producing Artistic Director, Diane Hill. Featuring Morgan Breon in a tour de force role as she portrays an array of characters in the public school setting including a behavior specialist, students, teachers and administrators.
*THE W.I.T.C.H. stands for Wound Intervention Through Care and Healing
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This performance was followed by a talk-back about the play and the desensitization to trauma amongst youth experiences in and out of school. Interested attendees had the opportunity to ask questions and join the discussion.
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ABOUT OUR FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS
Jacquelyn Priskorn has been writing plays since she took her first class with playwright Kitty Dubin in 1997. She has had several plays and screenplays produced since that first class, including the award-winning short film, The Guest Room (shown at the Strasbourg Film Festival in France), as well as a screenplay, Love & Plutonium, which is currently available on DVD. Her play Love Shackles was published in Quick & Painless: Saturday Night Lites 2004-2005 Season distributed by Original Works. Glass Slipper, Size 8 ½, The Rot, The Reckless Romantic and Off Center (Best Play at the Oakland University Actor Showcase) are currently available through Brooklyn Publishing. Good Morning, Miriam received the Jury's Choice Award at the Detroit Fringe Forward Festival, along with Best New Play from New Plays from the Heartland, and The Chameleon Theatre Circle's 17th annual one act play contest.​
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Ron Riekki’s books include My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I Am Melting in Extinction (Apprentice House Press), Posttraumatic (Hoot ‘n’ Waddle), and U.P. (Ghost Road Press). Riekki co-edited Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice (Michigan State University Press) and The Many Lives of The Evil Dead (McFarland), and edited The Many Lives of It (McFarland), And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017 (MSU Press), Here: Women Writing on Michigan's Upper Peninsula (MSU Press, Independent Publisher Book Award), and The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works (Wayne State University Press, Michigan Notable Book). Riekki wrote the short films Thank You for Your Teeth! (2020 Dracula Film Festival Vladutz Trophy) and America (2019 Red Rock Film Festival Audience Award; 2019 Très Court International Film Festival Audience Award and Grand Prix). Theatre NOVA previously performed his plays Sáme and Atheist Comedy.
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Catherine Zudak is a writer, producer and storyteller in Ann Arbor. Her short plays have appeared in festivals throughout SE Michigan including, The Play’s the Thing (A2CT), The Detroit Fringe, Living on the Edge (Actors’) and The Playwright’s Festival (OCC). Theatre Nova read Lion’s Share for the Michigan Playwrights Festival in 2019. In the past few years, Ms. Zudak has written and performed stories for Heaven Spot, HERSay, MOMS, Snapshots, and Story Night. She has produced independent shows including Broken and The Know Gun Show.
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Morgan Breon earned four degrees from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor—none of which are in theatre. She holds an: LLMSW, EdMA, BA Psychology and BA English. She kick-started her theatre career playing 15 of the 16 characters featured in Nilaja Sun’s, No Child at Matrix Theatre Company. Morgan is an ensemble member of Shakespeare in Detroit and is an alumnus of Mosaic Youth Theater in Detroit, University of Michigan’s CRLT Players, and the University of Michigan Educational Theatre Company and has received awards for her plays Waking Up Alive and Portrait of a Wise Woman. Morgan was a 2017 Mitten Lab Fellow, 2017-2018 University Musical Society (UMS) Artist in Residence, 2018 Playwriting Scholarship Recipient with PlayPenn Theatre in Philadelphia, PA, and a 2018 Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellow. Her docu-play Telling Our Stories platforms the narratives of Black women in America, and a technology-infused version of the project was showcased at the 2018 TEDxDetroit Lab in collaboration with Metropolitan Museum of Design Detroit. The exhibit told stories through QR codes, and was entitled smART: Telling Our Stories | Black Women in America. In December, 2020, Morgan published A Refugee of Me: A Collection of Poems and A Refugee of Me: The Workbook, which uses poetry to guide readers into self-reflection and healing. Morgan credits Jesus Christ for her gifts of anything creative.
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