by Jeff Daniels
September 30 – EXTENDED to December 23, 2022
In a wild comedy about America’s fastest growing sport, four below average players must overcome their own limitations in order to achieve greatness in a game that has nothing to do with pickles.
Contains adult language and content.
DIRECTOR: Rhiannon Ragland
CAST:
Ryan Carlson
Caitlin Cavannaugh
Kate Thomsen
Lynch R. Travis
Jonathan West
Set Designer: Sarah Pearline
Light Designer: Noele Stollmack
Sound Designer: Robert W. Hubbard
Costume Designer: Shelby Newport
Properties Designer: Danna Segrest
Production Stage Manager:
Dana Gamarra
Production ASM & Rehearsal SM:
Patrick Ian McCall
Rehearsal ASM: Karen Anne George
PRESS QUOTES
“Pickleball sometimes feels like it could be a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live. Sustaining the tempo and energy for 75 minutes can be difficult, but the development of the play at PRT and Ragland’s deft direction to keep it moving, and using some dance movements and sequences to accent how hilariously and deadly serious these folks are about this game….er…”sport,” will surely make it a hit….”
“Special appreciation goes to the scenic (Sarah Pearline), lighting (Noele Stollmack) and sound (Robert W. Hubbard) designers who created a delightful, fantastical set with a secret trap-door elevator and haunting voices coming from all corners of the intimate 168-seat room.”
Production photos by Sean Carter Photography.
by Eric Pfeffinger
February 3 – March 18, 2023
Madelyn and Keenan are NPR-listening, latte-sipping blue-staters who are planning a family. Or they were, anyway, until the fertility clinic screwed up and accidentally implanted their fertilized embryo in another uterus – a uterus belonging to a small-government churchgoing NRA cardholder. Can these ideologically hostile couples make it together through nine months of gestation without killing each other?
Contains adult language and content.
DIRECTOR: Lynch R. Travis
CAST:
Henrí Franklin
Alex Leydenfrost
Kristin Shields
Kevin Theis
Meghan VanArsdalen
Set Designer: Bartley H. Bauer
Lighting Designer: Matt Taylor
Properties Designer: Danna Segrest
Costume Designer: Suzanne Young
Sound Designer: Robert W. Hubbard
Production Stage Manager:
Patrick Ian McCall
Assistant Stage Manager:
Karen Anne George
PRESS QUOTES
“I was surprised at how well the author was able to handle really touchy, difficult subjects like abortion and racism, all while keeping the audience roaring with laughter.”
-Aimee Bingham Osinski, Chelsea Guardian
“Not to make light of the ongoing culture war that threatens to destroy our 250-year-old democracy, but the latest production at Jeff Daniels’ Purple Rose Theatre is so funny that you can’t help but feel just maybe things are going to turn out alright.”
-Matthew Vande Bunte, MLive
Production photos by Sean Carter Photography.
by Quinn D. Eli
April 21 – June 3, 2023
Melanie is haunted by a voice that won’t leave her head. Call it a ghost, a hallucination, or clear evidence of a mental collapse. Either way, it’s a lingering reminder of a friend who was killed years ago; the friend was black, Melanie is white, and questions about why it happened – and who was to blame – come newly into focus when Melanie is drawn into a relationship that offers her a brighter future, but no clear escape from the past.
Contains adult language and content.
DIRECTOR: Rhiannon Ragland
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: K. Edmonds
CAST:
Caitlin Cavannaugh
Rachel Keown
Rusty Mew
Olivia Miller
Dez Walker
Set Designer: Sarah Pearline
Lighting Designer:
Stephen Sakowski & Dana L. White
Properties Designer: Danna Segrest
Costume Designer: Shelby Newport
Sound Designer: Matthew Tibbs
Production Stage Manager:
Karen Anne George
Production ASM: Stefanie Din
Rehearsal ASM: Hope Shangle
PRESS QUOTES
“The Purple Rose Theatre is presenting the world premiere of playwright Quinn D. Eli’s In Common, a play that balances a caustic sense of humor with a serious look at complicated relationships in a complicated urban environment. Director Rhiannon Ragland and her excellent cast get the balance just right.”
“In Common is a superior script that taps into huge issues confronting society today–not by hitting the audience over the head, but in a very digestible portion that hopefully stirs a lot of conversation at the pub after the show or on the drive home. The issues are with us at home, at work and in every community and often in the same home among loved ones.”
Production photos by Sean Carter Photography.
by Paul Stroili
July 7 – September 2, 2023
At a senior living community in the Adirondacks, a small group of residents decide they’re not quite ready to “go gentle into that good night.” This band of displaced former city dwellers from Brooklyn and The Bronx hatch a plot to prove that aging is not a New York state of mind. A Jukebox for The Algonquin is a tale about those who will not be forgotten – a serious comedy about sex, drugs, and rocking chairs.
Contains adult language and content.
DIRECTOR: Suzi Regan
CAST:
Susan Angelo
Wallace Bridges
Mark Colson
Ruth Crawford
MaryJo Cuppone
Ethan May
John Seibert
Set Designer: Bartley H. Bauer
Lighting Designer: Noele Stollmack
Properties Designer: Danna Segrest
Costume Designer: Suzanne Young
Sound Designer: Brad Phillips
Stage Manager: Karen Anne George
Assistant Stage Manager:
Juliana Berry
PRESS QUOTES
“Stroili’s writing is the star of this new play, though the superb ensemble of actors cast by Director Suzi Regan deserve lots of credit too for perfectly inhabiting the characters. Stroili, a veteran actor of the PRT stage, as well as many others, is emerging as a writer of stories that any actor should want to deliver. Why? Stroili has a gift for writing dialogue full of authentic detail that sounds real an human.”
“A Jukebox for the Algonquin is a rollicking good time clothed in human skin. Aging, with all its triumphs and challenges, takes center stage, and from where I sat, this witty comedy-drama was a blast.”
Production photos by Sean Carter Photography.