AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, SONS OF THE PROPHET and More Included in Ringwald Theatre's 2012-2013 Season

The Ringwald Theatre just celebrated its 5th Birthday and what better time to take stock and think about where they've come from and where they are headed? It is with those questions of existence that the company has decided to retire their original Production Company, Who Wants Cake?, and to move forward solely as The Ringwald!

And with this cleaner, more cohesive brand, the company is thrilled to announce the line-up of productions for the upcoming 2012-2013 season. The 6th full season explores all manners of family – both blood relatives as well as the families we choose. It's a dynamic, unexpected season that the group can't wait to kick off! It's an exciting mix of some popular genres, new territory, and guest directors that promises to take The Ringwald to new, artistic heights!

All productions are to be performed at The Ringwald Theatre, located at 22742 Woodward Avenue in downtown Ferndale. For more information and to find out about ticket reservations, please call 248-545-5545 or visit online at www.TheRingwald.com!

SHOPPING AND f-ing (AKA SHOPPING AND F***ING) by Mark Ravenhill
September 7-24, 2012

Mark Ravenhill's groundbreaking play follows a crowd of drifters and sex traders in a seedy area of London. Five main characters comprise an unlikely family at whose center is an ever-changing love triangle of petty criminals. It is a gritty, grimy urban society, a microcosm
of drugs, shoplifting, prostitution, and sexual adventure. The characters have shunnEd Morality and conduct hedonistic and destructive lives in this shocking, humorous, nihilistic play that examines a completely corrupted society. Directed by Joe Bailey.

FLOWERS UP HER ATTIC by Marke Sobolewski & Joe Bailey
October 12-29, 2012

This unauthorized parody of V.C. Andrews landmark novel "Flowers in the Attic", explores a tale of ultimate family betrayal and secrets! A young widow is forced to keep her four children locked in the attic of her sadistic mother's mansion while she tries to get her act together.
Christopher and Cathy are the eldest siblings, poor little Cory and Carrie are the hapless twins. Little does the children's mother know the extent of what happens up in that attic! Directed by Marke Sobolewski.

THE HOMOSEXUALS by Philip Dawkins
November 16-December 10, 2012

THE HOMOSEXUALS is a comedic and heartwarming work for anyone who's ever fallen in love with a friend. The play follows Evan, a young gay man who moves to the Midwest with nothing but the shirt on his back. When a kind man invites him to a party his first night in town-the circle of friends he meets that night have impact on his life that he (nor we) could ever imagine. Chicago playwright Dawkins' epic play examines the fears, doubts and hopes facing the gay community in the 21st century in this modern-day riff on the queer classic THE BOYS IN THE BAND. Directed by Annette Madias.

THE SANTALAND DIARIES AND SEASON'S GREETINGS by David Sedaris, adapted
for the stage by Joe Mantello
December 13-23, 2012

The delightful anti-holiday treat makes its annual return to the Ringwald stage for two weekends of twisted holiday fun! Directed by Jamie Richards.

WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING by Andrew Bovell
January 11-28, 2013

It's raining. Gabriel York is awaiting the arrival of his grown son whom he hasn't seen since he was seven. "I know what he wants. He wants what all young men want from their fathers. He wants to know who he is. Where he comes from. Where he belongs. And for the life of me I don't know what to tell him." That's the beginning of this compelling family saga that takes us back and forth in time from one generation to another, from 1959 to 2039, from London to Australia. With four generations of fathers and sons, their mothers, lovers and wives, the
play is epic in its scope, yet at the same time extraordinarily intimate. Directed by Jamie Warrow.

TBA
February-March, 2013

We're cooking up something spectacular for this slot. We haven't quite nailed it down, but we're sure it will be music to your ears! As soon as we know, you'll know!

SONS OF THE PROPHET by Stephen Karam
April 5-29, 2013

If to live is to suffer, then Joseph Douaihy is more alive than most. With unexplained chronic pain and the fate of his reeling family on his shoulders, Joseph's health, sanity, and insurance premium are on the line. With a wacky book editor seeking to exploit Joseph's distant family connection to Kahlil Gibran, author of the bestselling The Prophet, the Douaihy's lives will never be the same. Shortlisted for the 2012 Pulitzer prize, Stephen Karam's wise and moving play is also the funniest play about human suffering you're likely to see. Guest Director TBA.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY by Tracy Letts
May 10-June 3, 2013

A vanished father. A pill-popping mother. Three sisters harboring shady little secrets. When the large Weston family unexpectedly reunites after Dad disappears, their Oklahoman family homestead explodes in a maelstrom of repressed truths and unsettling secrets. Mix in Violet, the drugged-up, scathingly acidic matriarch, and you've got a major new play that unflinchingly-and uproariously-exposes the dark side of the Midwestern American family. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer prize and Tony Award, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY comes to The
Ringwald in a dynamic, re-imagined production directed by Joe Bailey.

The Ringwald opened their doors five years ago on May 11, 2007 with FATAL ATTRACTION: A GREEK TRAGEDY. Quickly, The Ringwald became a mainstay of Detroit's theatre community. Past Productions include: THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND, THE BAD SEED, THE DIVINE SISTER, THE BOOK OF LIZ, RENT, and LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! The Ringwald was named 2009 and 2012 Best Theatrical Troupe by Real Detroit and Best Place to See Local Theatre in 2010, 2011 and 2012 by the readers of Metro Times.

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