Jan Cartwright News

Slipstream continues its exploration into the human experience with the Michigan premiere of St. Sebastian by award-winning playwright Andrew Kramer. Set in current day Detroit, a gay white couple moves into a historically African-American neighborhood. It's full of history and culture, and the couple thinks it's the perfect place to flip a house and make some money. Ben is a former priest, and his partner, Gideon, is a political justice junkie. Gideon fears that he and Ben are becoming 'those people' - the ones who gentrify and destroy historic neighborhoods to make a buck. As Gideon slips deeper and deeper down the path of fearing becoming what he hates the most, Ben strikes up a friendship with a neighbor boy, who happens to be black. Fear and ignorance drive the show to an inevitable tragedy.

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still focuses on a couple trying to maintain a relationship as they make a living reporting on the world's atrocities. Photojournalist Sarah is home recovering from injuries sustained from a roadside bomb in a war-torn country, eager to return to work.

strangers find themselves stuck on a remote island with a murderous maniac picking them off one by one, and each potential victim is also a suspect. Agatha Christie's classic And Then There Were None opens Friday February 9th at the Farmington Players Barn Theater, and runs through February 25th. Tickets are available at farmingtonplayers.org or at the box office, (248) 553-2955.

As a Catholic family prepares to celebrate Christmas, one son Andy Gorski (Bob Cox of Ann Arbor) arrives for the Holiday with his Jewish fianc e, (Amy Lauter of Farmington Hills) who happens to be an atheist. This sets the stage for an offbeat comedy that is sure to delight and surprise audiences at the Farmington Players Barn in Farmington Hills.

In what has become a Slipstream tradition, September brings the world premiere of an original play, A Night of Stars with Tennessee Williams. Join us for a tour of famous and infamous stars, led by a man admired by more stars than any other: the one and only Tennessee Williams! Appearances on the tour include Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, Truman Capote, Katharine Hepburn, and many more along the way. As in all good tours, the history becomes almost more realistic than the present as the ghosts from the past materialize as flesh and blood. Written by Wilde Award-winner Maxim Vinogradov, this script recently won the Hopwood Award in Drama as well as the Dennis McIntyre Prize.

Slipstream Theatre Initiative is excited to delve into the luscious world of French Farce with their third show of the season, 'Nain Rouge.' Based on the lesser known 'La Mi-Careme (Mid-Lent)' by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy, Nain Rouge is a story about a raucous hotel and its wacky tenants on the night of the popular Detroit festival. Audiences will be able to join the actors on stage throughout the night, as this farce has an interactive game built into it. Join the zany Marguerite Lamerthier and her trove of admirers on this light-hearted journey of indulgence.

For three weekends, January 13-28, a gripping thriller will take the stage at Open Book Theatre in Trenton. Boy Gets Girl is in the same vein as recent hit books/movies Gone Girl and Girl on the Train. Open Book Artistic Director Krista Ewbank is featured as Theresa, who goes on an awkward blind date with Tony. Theresa she sees no reason to continue the relationship-but Tony thinks otherwise. Theresa's strength and independence begin to unravel as Tony continues to refuse to take no for an answer. "This play has sparked great conversations among the actors and production staff during rehearsals," said Ewbank. "It fits right in to the larger discussion we are all having about the way women are treated and the subtle and not so subtle intimidations and sexualized assumptions that happen to us each day. We share our personal stories and talk about what's happening in the world today. We are excited to have the audience engage in these conversations with us."

A billionaire businessman runs against a former First Lady and Secretary of State for President. The battle is heated, divisive, and induces the country's political upheaval. The four children of the businessman stand to inherit a dynasty if they follow their father's orders. The only daughter of the former First Lady must face the scrutiny of the public eye. This is the world of Capulet versus Montague in Slipstream's spin on Shakespeare's iconic Romeo and Juliet. The youngest daughter of the Capulet clan and the only daughter of the Montague family are the star-crossed lovers in this version, and they will stop at nothing to be together.

After an extended run of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Slipstream is lightening up a bit just in time for spring. The young company is proudly presenting Easter by August Strindberg. One of his lesser known plays, this production delves into the darkness and light of religious allegory. A family unit is publicly ruined and awaits the "Giant" to come and take away everything they own to pay a very old debt. With characters that remind us of ourselves and of certain Biblical figures, the play gives the audience a chance to rethink the stories they thought they knew, posing thought-provoking questions. What is sanity, and who are we to define it? When we suffer, is someone not suffering more? If a debt is owed, must it not be paid? And, how far can you see with your magnifying eye?

Open Book Theatre Company will open its second season with an American classic, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer.

Open Book Theatre Company will open its second season with an American classic, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play THE SHADOW BOX by Michael Cristofer. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Open Book Theatre Company will open its second season with an American classic, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer.

Open Book Theatre Company will open its second season with an American classic, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer.

Getting ahead in life is easy when you follow a 'How To' manual. The Farmington Players will wrap up the season with the hit Broadway musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, tonight, April 24th-May 16th in Farmington Hills. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast!

Getting ahead in life is easy when you follow a 'How To' manual. The Farmington Players will wrap up the season with the hit Broadway musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, April 24th-May 16th in Farmington Hills. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast!

Slipstream Theatre Initiative excitedly says "Hello" to the Detroit Area Theatre Scene! Slipstream is a new company founded in Ferndale and focuses on current takes on classical works as well as featuring original works by local playwrights. The mission is simple: use a core ensemble of actors and focus on the intent of the playwright while making viable,contemporary and thought provoking art. The company utilizes some of Detroit's well known talent (as well as several newcomers), a minimalistic technical approach and the area's most unique spaces to cross the divide between old and new. Slipstream will work in conjunction with several companies in the area and is set to perform on most theaters' "dark" nights, offering a weeknight outing for an affordable price while leaving the weekends free for more established companies' seasons. Based in Ferndale but using different venues around the area to suit each show, Slipstream promises to make you rethink what makes something "classical" and what defines "contemporary."

Yes, you CAN have your fruitcake and eat it too. Two Muses Theatre, a nonprofit, professional theatre based in West Bloomfield, Michigan, will produce two holiday shows in repertory this December. Matinees are for families, with a staging of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas written by popular Broadway playwright, Ken Ludwig, in which the famous poem is a springboard to tell the story of a Jewish elf, a mouse, and a little girl who join forces to save Christmas. Evening performances will be family-friendly as well (suitable for the non-believers-and-older crowd), with Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) by Michael Carleton, Jim FitzGerald and John K. Alvarez - a madcap romp covering the usual holiday stories (such as Frosty, Rudolf, Charlie Brown, The Grinch, etc.) in very unusual ways. Act Two of this funny play finds three incredibly energetic actors playing all the characters in an irreverent mash-up of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. Scroll down for a look at the cast in action!

Yes, you CAN have your fruitcake and eat it too. Two Muses Theatre, a nonprofit, professional theatre based in West Bloomfield, Michigan, will produce two holiday shows in repertory this December.

Yes, you CAN have your fruitcake and eat it too. Two Muses Theatre, a nonprofit, professional theatre based in West Bloomfield, Michigan, will produce two holiday shows in repertory this December.

The Ringwald Theatre will present August: Osage County from tonight, May 10-June 3, 2013. Capping off a successful 'Season of Family', The Ringwald has indeed saved what is arguably the best for last; certainly the biggest for last. The Ringwald has had great success with the plays of Tracy Letts in the past, producing two of his works: Bug and Killer Joe. August: Osage County promises to be every bit as compelling as his past works.