Sept. 1 through Sept. 24, 2023
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Showtimes are
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00p pm, and Sunday at 2:00 pm
(Single tickets: $22)
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Fri., Sept. 1, 8:00 p.m. Opening Night - mask required
Sat., Sept. 2, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 3, 2:00 p.m.- mask required
Thurs., Sept. 7, 8:00 p.m.- mask required
Fri., Sept. 8, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 9, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 10, 2:00 p.m. - mask required
Thurs., Sept. 14, 8:00 p.m.- mask required
Fri., Sept. 15, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 16, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 17, 2:00 p.m.- mask required
Thurs., Sept. 21, 8:00 p.m.- mask required
Fri., Sept. 22, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 23, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 24, 2:00 p.m.- mask required
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THEATRE NOVA PRESENTS
MLIMA'S TALE
by Lynn Nottage
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A ghost story for our times. Mlima is a magnificent African elephant killed by the underground ivory market for his tusks. As his soul accompanies his tusks on a path forged by greed and colonialism, Mlima takes us on a journey through the agonizing tradition of mining animals. This groundbreaking work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright marries theatricality and social commentary in a play that will truly haunt you. “Those of you who don’t believe in ghosts are likely to think again after seeing Lynn Nottage’s beautiful, endlessly echoing portrait of a murder and its afterlife.” -NY Times.
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Directed by Lynch Travis, Mlima's Tale by Lynn Nottage features Mike Sandusky, Marie Muhammad, David Moy, and Darius Franklin. The production and design team includes Paul Taylor (scenic design), Jeff Alder (lighting design), Micha Mallett (costume design) and Briana O'Neal (stage manager).
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For the health, safety, and well-being of our patrons, staff, and artists, Theatre NOVA's current COVID-19 policy requires patrons to wear masks while in the building for particular shows. On dates when masks are not required, we still highly recommend patrons wear masks. This policy is subject to change anytime, following fluctuating local, state, and federal guidelines. Please check our current COVID-19 policy before your scheduled performance date.
CURRENT
Milma’s Tale Comes to Theatre Nova
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“It’s really about the interconnectivity of people; people who buy a tusk, an upscale shop in China is connected to a Somali culture whose starving and makes decisions based upon necessity,” Lynn Nottage, the two time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who wrote “Milma’s Tale, said.
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Nottage said that she began writing the piece after a conversation with a director over how to use art to make people aware of what is happening and motivate global change.
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[Director Lynch] Travis said that he is excited to bring Nottage’s play to Ann Arbor. “If I had a Mount Rushmore of playwrights, she would certainly be on it,” Travis said.
PULP: ARTS AROUND ANN ARBOR
SPIRIT ANIMAL: THEATRE NOVA’S “MLIMA’S TALE" EXPLORES THE COSTS OF HUMAN GREED
“Nottage is not one to let audiences off the hook by way of false optimism. So although Mlima’s Tale won’t likely electrify you, it does quietly, hauntingly launch you down the rabbit hole of thinking deeply about the earthly costs of humanity’s greed.
This brings us back to Mlima’s arresting opening moment when it feels like this gigantic, noble creature has joined us in Theatre Nova’s space.
It reminded me of how, when we’re young children, we’re asked to pretend we’re animals. We make trunks of our arms and hunch over as if we walk on all fours, then rear back and trumpet air through closed lips.
Perhaps Mlima gets some of its punch by bringing us all back to that innocent moment of animal connection, followed by a varied show of precisely how far we’ve all fallen away, in the interim, from the best, most humane versions of ourselves." - Jenn McKee for PULP