A PARADISE OF FOOLS, ROAMING CHARGES and More Headline Detroit Repertory Theatre's 2012-13 Season

The Detroit Repertory Theatre's 2012/2013 Season will have its Champagne Opening and Celebration on November 1, 2012. The highlight of this 56th Opening Night at the Rep will be the World Premiere farce, A PARADISE OF FOOLS by Michael E. Wolfson. The rest of the season are World and Midwest Premieres that span a range of issues: human rights and history, the rippling effects of mental illness on a family, and a poem/play about race, mothers, daughters, suburbia, academia, identity and poetry.

Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8:30 PM, Saturdays at 3 PM and 8:30 PM, and Sundays at 2 PM and 7:30 PM. Tickets will remain among the most affordable for professional theatre in the region at $17 in advance, and subscriptions remain the unheard of price of $100 for two for a year. The Detroit Repertory Theatre is located in the center of the city at 13103 Woodrow Wilson, Detroit, MI 48238. Parking is lighted, guarded, fenced-in and free.

The Detroit Repertory Theatre is a living embodiment of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream and a living legacy of the creative power of diversity acting in unity. The Rep's new season continues the dream. More information may be obtained by calling (313) 868-1347 or by visiting www.detroitreptheatre.com.

About the Rep 2012/2013 Season

World Premiere
A PARADISE OF FOOLS by Michael E. Wolfson
A Modern Day 18th Century Farce turns women's rights upside down
November 1 to December 30, 2012 with a Special Performance on New Year's Eve

A couple of con artists, Francesca and Bernardo, are down on their luck when they discover a dim-witted shoemaker, Calandrino, has received an inheritance. The swindlers move into action. Bernardo convinces Calandrino that he doesn't look well and summons a renowned doctor, Francesca in disguise, who determines the shoemaker is suffering from a condition usually reserved for women. Calandrino begs to have his manhood restored. A request the doctor readily agrees to...for a fee.

The raucous farce is just beginning as other swindlers jump into the fray. In the end, money changes hands, but it isn't clear who swindled whom. Only the audience knows for sure.

World Premiere
POSTCARDS by William Costanza
A photographer is haunted by his 1930's postcards
January 10 to March 17, 2013

Alvin Moseby is a photographer. He lives in the South during the 1930's. When times are tough we often do things for money we wish we hadn't. Alvin Moseby is paid by the Deputy Sheriff to take photographs of racist deeds which are made into postcards.
He leaves his wife, flees the South and moves to New York City, where he finds his artistic calling taking pictures of legendary jazz musicians in sessions. But the infamous box of postcards follow his every step and haunt his every move, relentlessly attacking his soul.

Midwest Premiere
A THOUSAND CIRCLETS by Theroun D'Arcy Patterson
An Architect's mind begins to desert him and the family circlets ripple
March 28 to May 19, 2013

Earl Leighton, a successful African American architect and family patriarch, self-made, proud, is on the verge of realizing his life's ambition: to build a skyscraper. His family: his devoted wife, eldest son, wanderer daughter and estranged step-son are gathering in anticipation of the big presentation to come. However, when Earl forgets how to tie his tie, we realize foreboding ripples threaten the seemingly smooth waters.

World Premiere
ROAMING CHARGES by Ralph Accardo
A precocious girl on a swing changes the lives of her roaming mother and a lonesome English teacher
May 30 to June 23, 2013

Lacey Cubbard, a precocious and brave African American young lady, new to the neighborhood, gently swings backs and forth on a swing. Kate, a lonesome white English teacher enters, sits on one of the lawn chairs and begins to read. This seemingly precious and innocent beginning soon evolves into a gorgeous poem/play about mothers and daughters, race, suburbia, academia, identity and poetry.
Lacey, Kate, and eventually Lacey's mother are woven into a pattern that is both tangled and delicate, both tortuous and lovely.

The oldest professional (Union) non-profit theatre in the State of Michigan, the Detroit Repertory Theatre's mission is guided by the belief that the sense of community is stronger than the forces that splinter and that efforts to preserve unity deserve the same attention and support as the justly cultivated efforts to retain diversity. The implicit goal in all the theatre's efforts is to produce the best possible professional theatre while fostering cultural democratization of the arts, and fighting by example, the disturbing level of racism that still exists.

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