Like a lot of great plays, it鈥檚 taken years for to find a stage of its own. This month, that will change as the homegrown company run entirely by women opens its very own doors to the public for the first time.
Detroit Public Theatre will launch its eighth season inside its own digs at the historic Third Avenue Garage in the city鈥檚 Cass Corridor, joining a busy block that includes the restaurant and the popular . It will be Detroit Public Theatre鈥檚 first season outside of its former home, Robert A. & Maggie Allesee Rehearsal Hall at the Fisher Music Center, where the performs.
Its building dates back to 1927 and has been updated with state-of-the-art amenities. The black box theater will seat about 200 patrons per show and have seating designed to move around and accommodate each production鈥檚 unique set designs. A new lobby, box office, and bar called the Green Room will round out the additions to the space.
But what are fancy new accommodations without shows to match? Detroit Public Theatre will open its latest season with Mud Row (Sept. 21-Oct. 30), written by Tony-nominated Detroit playwright Dominique Morisseau, who also serves as the company鈥檚 executive artistic producer.
The play tells the story of two sisters forced to confront their shared heritage after one of them inherits their grandmother鈥檚 house.
鈥淚t鈥檚 got some really interesting things to say about inheritance, legacy, and place and how we are defined by our homes and the places we live,鈥 says Courtney Burkett, one of three producing artistic directors and co-founders of Detroit Public Theatre. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really interesting to be opening a new space in Detroit and to have that conversation about who these buildings and the overall community belong to.鈥
It鈥檚 rare in almost every industry to see women running the show (all three producting artistic directors are women), and 鈥渢heater is no different,鈥 says Burkett, who adds that diversity on stage and in the offices of independent theater is growing but not quite where it needs to be yet.
But starting Detroit Public Theatre from scratch nearly a decade ago has allowed Burkett and her team to play by their own rules.
鈥淥ne of the great things about building this company from the ground up is that we don鈥檛 have to do things the way they were always done,鈥 she says.
In addition to Mud Row, Detroit Public Theatre will also stage Noura by Michigan-born Iraqi American playwright Heather Raffo starting on Nov. 6. For the full fall season, visit .
This story is from the September 2022 issue of 香港六合彩图库资料 magazine.听Read more in听our digital edition.听
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