Williamston Theatre's DEAD MAN'S SHOES Receives Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award

The Williamston Theatre announces that its 2012 World Premiere of the new play Dead Man's Shoes, by Joseph Zettelmaier, has just received an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award. The play is slated to be the third production of the Williamston Theatre's 2011-2012 Season and is a co-production with the Performance Network Theatre in Ann Arbor.

"The Williamston Theatre and Performance Network Theatre are thrilled to present this piece as a co-production, and are pleased to be able to continue presenting the work of Joseph Zettelmaier to a wider audience," said Williamston Theatre's Artistic Director Tony Caselli. "The support and national recognition that The Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award provides will allow us to craft a new work that will have life beyond our stages and stands poised to become a substantial addition to the landscape of the contemporary American theatre."

The year is 1883. The place is the Wild West. The notorious outlaw Injun Bill Picote has escaped from prison, along with a hard-luck drunk named Froggy. The pair endure trials and bizarre misadventures as they hunt for the object of Injun Bill's vengeance...a man who committed an unthinkable deed. Nothing will stop Injun Bill, not even a crazed nun, a philosophical sheriff, a one-eyed barkeep or a mysterious rider on a white horse. But as his past catches up with him, Injun Bill weighs his life spent as a cutthroat. As Froggy helps him discover his long-ignored conscience, Bill begins to learn that life can be lived without bloodshed. But is the hope of a better life stronger than the need to avenge the death of a friend? This dark comedy features lovable characters and smart dialogue, and explores the concept of vengeance, its worth and consequences. Dead Man's Shoes will run from January 26 - February 26, 2012 at the Williamston Theatre before moving to the Performance Network for a five week run.

One of Michigan's own, playwright Joseph Zettelmaier is a three-time nominee for the American Theatre Critics Award for Best New Play (All Childish Things in 2006, Language Lessons in 2007 and It Came From Mars in 2010). His work has also won awards for the Best Locally Created Script and Best New Play (Ann Arbor News), Best New Play (Oakland Press), and has been selected as a part of the National New Play Network's Festival of New Plays. This is his second Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award. The first was for It Came From Mars, which was also a co-production between the Williamston Theatre and the Performance Network and had its world premiere at both theatres in the winter and early spring of 2010.