OUR 2023-2024 SEASON
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 PM
Sundays at 2:00 PM
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME by Heidi Schreck
Michigan Premiere
The play The New York Times hailed as "not just the best play on Broadway, but also the most important." Fifteen-year-old Heidi earns her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious and hopeful new play, adult Heidi traces the relationship between four generations of women and the monumental document that shaped their lives. This timely play was a sensation on Broadway, receiving two Tony Award® nominations. Directed by Briana O'Neal.
October 20 - November 12, 2023 (Single tickets: $28)
THE YEAR WITHOUT A PANTO CLAUS
by Carla Milarch & R. MacKenzie Lewis
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Santa's been watching too much depressing cable news again. When he decides to pack it in and disappear, two of his elves must search the globe to rescue Christmas cheer. Arriving at some decidedly un-Christmas-y locations, they face the wrath of the Miser twins (Heat and Snow), the town's grumpy citizens, and a mysterious Russian bombshell. From the brilliant minds that brought you An Almost British Christmas and Sugar Plum Panto, this boisterous holiday show is the perfect prescription for joy and laughter. Directed by Carla Milarch.
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Dec. 15, 2023 - Jan. 7, 2024, Fri.@7:30pm, Sat.@3pm & 7:30pm, & Sun.@2:00 pm
(Single tickets: $30 for adults, $12 for kids 16 years and under)
FORTUNE by Deborah Zoe Laufer
Michigan Premiere
In this lighthearted comedy about the unpredictable nature of love, Maude, a no-nonsense storefront psychic, prides herself on always telling the truth. But not even she can bring herself to be honest with nebbishy accountant Jeremy about his nonexistent romantic prospects. When he threatens to end it all if she sees no love in his future, Maude must wrestle with her own truth-telling reputation and tempt fate with a twist of the truth that could forever change both of their lives. Directed by Carla Milarch.
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February 2-25, 2024 (Single tickets: $28)
the ripple, the wave that carried me home by Christina Anderson
Michigan Premiere
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A lyrical and dynamic look at the complexities of race, history, and legacy. Janice's parents were Black activists fighting to integrate public swimming pools in 1960s Kansas. When they pressured young Janice to give speeches for the cause, injustice penetrated the warm bubble of her childhood, prompting Janice to start a new life elsewhere. Now, she's invited to speak at a ceremony honoring her father and must reckon with her political inheritance as she confronts the past she tried to forget. Directed by Lynch Travis.
March 22 - April 14, 2024 (Single tickets: $28)
DEATH OF A DRIVER by Will Snider
Michigan Premiere
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Sarah is an American engineer. Kennedy is an East African driver. When Sarah moves to Kenya to build a highway, they strike up a friendship and embark on a journey to transform rural Kenya. But when a local election dispute tests their alliance, Sarah questions how well she knows the man she thought was her friend. Both confront the realities of their intertwined ambitions. A bracing exploration of "doing good" abroad, the limits of understanding one another, and what happens when personal and political obligations collide. Directed by Shelby Seeley.
May 17 - June 9, 2024 (Single tickets: $28)
DOCTOR MOLOCH by Carla Milarch
World Premiere
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It's 2027, and advances in Artificial Intelligence have brought the spunky startup VitalAI to the brink of launching the first humanoid robot doctor. Doctor Moloch is capable of instant MRIs, personalized genetics-based medicines, and single-cell early cancer detection. There's only one problem: the good doctor cannot relate to his patients. When VitalAI brings in famous actress Serena Blaise to give him lessons in "being human," she uncovers more human qualities than anyone bargained for, putting the very future of humanity on the line. Directed by Briana O'Neal.
July 12 - August 4, 2024 (Single tickets: $28)
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MICHIGAN PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
Theatre NOVA focuses on new plays and new playwrights and is dedicated to working with new and local playwrights to help them develop their craft and to offer brand new plays for audiences. We created the Michigan Playwrights Festival to nurture Michigan playwrights and to develop full-length plays for future seasons. Plays that were products of Michigan Playwrights Festivals that have received their world premieres at Theatre NOVA include Mazel Tov, John Lennon by David Wells (Wilde Award for Best New Script), Resisting by David Wells (Wilde Award for Best Original Production), Mrs. Fifty Bakes a Pie by Linda Ramsay Detherage, Clutter by Brian Cox (Wilde Award for Best New Script), Irrational by R. MacKenzie Lewis and David Wells (Wilde Award for Best New Script), Katherine by Kim Carney (Wilde Award Nomination for Best New Script), Spin (aka Swimming While Drowning) by Emilio Rodriguez, and Bird by Kristin Hanratty.
August 21 - 25, 2024 (Individual tickets: $10, festival passes $30)
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