BUYER & CELLAR, I AND YOU and More Set for Theatre Nova's 2015 Season at the Yellow Barn

Theatre Nova, Ann Arbor's professional playwrights' theater, is thrilled to announce its Premiere Season of Michigan and World Premieres for 2015 in the newly renovated Yellow Barn performance space at 416 West Huron, in downtown Ann Arbor. The season is made up of new, fun, and challenging work sourced from around the country, and developed right here in Michigan. Every show in the Theatre Nova season will make its Michigan debut in 2015.

From one of the very first independent productions in the country of the show The New York Times called "The most talked about comedy of the season" in 2014 ("Buyer & Cellar" by Jonathan Tolins), to an award-winning Michigan premiere by one of America's hottest new playwrights ("I and You" by Lauren Gunderson), to one of the premier shows in the country, that was actually scheduled for production by Theatre Nova BEFORE it got picked up for a New York production starring Anne Hathaway ("Grounded" by George Brant), the shows in Theatre Nova's season are truly on the vanguard of new play production. Added to that are two exciting World Premiere productions - one a rock musical by Michigan artists David Wells and R. MacKenzie Lewis ("Irrational"), and one an off-the-wall original piece promising a dash of zany holiday cheer ("An Almost British Christmas") - and one show TBA, a show so recently released that it can't be announced yet.

Artistic Director Carla Milarch said "The birth of Theatre Nova is a dream come true for me. I am so thrilled to be able to provide another viable theater venue in Ann Arbor. The city's remarkable cultural vibrancy makes it possible to have a theater specifically focused on new plays and new voices, while at the same time, our mode of working from the playwright's perspective and our selection of adventurous plays will complement and deepen the theater scene. We hope to showcase exciting plays and playwrights that audiences of all backgrounds and economic means can discover."

The season opens with the Michigan Premiere of "Buyer & Cellar" by Jonathan Tolins, a terrific new comedy that The New York Times called, "Irresistible, delicious, and wickedly funny." It is the story of an unemployed actor who finds work manning the shopping mall in Barbara Streisand's basement (yes, that really is a thing). There's a whole cast of characters, including the actor, his boyfriend, Babs herself... all played by actor Sebastian Gerstner ("Venus in Fur" and "The Glass Menagerie" at Performance Network) in an outrageous one-man comic tour-de-force. This witty and cutting look at celebrity excess has been a hit on tour from coast to coast, and now Theatre Nova is proud to present one of the very first original productions in the country! Directed by Theatre Nova Producing Director Daniel C. Walker, "Buyer & Cellar" Opens March 6 and runs through March 29.

The season continues with the Michigan Premiere of "I and You" by Lauren Gunderson, winner of the 2014 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, and a finalist for the 2014 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. On the night before a class assignment is due, two high school students - sickly, oddball Caroline and jockish, popular Anthony - plumb the mysteries of Walt Whitman's poem Leaves of Grass. Between poetry, teen angst and awkward overtures, a funny and warm relationship starts to form, until a shocking disclosure by Anthony reveals that all is not as it seems. Starring Katie Terpstra and Matthew Webb, and directed by former Performance Network Artistic Director David Wolber, "I and You" runs May 1 - 17.

Up next is the one-woman drama, "Grounded" by George Brant, that The Guardian called "A searing piece of writing... gripping... a must-see." When a top fighter pilot unexpectedly finds that she's pregnant, she is reassigned to operate military drones from a windowless trailer outside Las Vegas. There she hunts terrorists by day and returns to her family each night. As the pressure to track a high-profile target mounts, the boundaries begin to blur between the desert in which she lives and the one she patrols half a world away. This show takes a timely and powerful look at the ethics and costs of fighting wars by remote control. Directed by Ann Arbor actor/director Phil Powers ("Becky Shaw" at Performance Network) Theatre Nova will present The Michigan Premiere of "Grounded" June 12 - 28, just one month after the New York production at the Public starring Anne Hathaway, directed by Julie Taymor.

The fourth show in Theatre Nova's season is the exciting World Première of "Irrational", a brand new musical by David Wells and R. MacKenzie Lewis. Welcome to Ancient Greece (515bc) and the original cult of personality - the Pythagoreans, led by the charismatic Pythagoras - mathematician, philosopher and... rock star? Grifters and con men (and women) abound in this rockin' musical inspired by the true story of Pythagoras and his fervent followers, who believed that divinity was found in the harmony of ratios - the rational. When one of Pythagoras' own discovers irrational numbers, he blows a hole in the Pythagoreans' worldview and crosses the wrong mathematician. "Irrational "is a world premiere musical, directed by Theatre Nova Artistic Director Carla Milarch, and featuring BOTH 2014 Wilde Award Winners for "Best Performance in a Musical" Steve DeBruyne and Mahalia Greenway, plus Sebastian Gerstner ("Christmas Caroled" and "Spamalot" at Encore Musical Theatre), Courtney Riddle ("Little Shop of Horrors at Performance Network) and Brian Thibault ("She Loves Me" and "The Baker's Wife" at Performance Network.) "Irrational" opens July 24 and runs thru August 16.

Theatre Nova's fifth show can't quite be announced yet, but we promise that it will be another new work that you won't see anywhere else. More news SOON! It will run from October 9 - 25.

Theatre Nova will close out the season with another original show, "An Almost British Christmas" - a devised piece by the Theatre Nova Ensemble, with music by R. MacKenzie Lewis. This holiday romp is inspired by the British tradition of Pantomime (or Panto) that takes children's stories and injects a bit of Vaudeville sensibility and a healthy dose of music, to create a raucous holiday family entertainment. We'll explore what happens when two unsophisticated Americans attempt a British pantomime, using American iconography and traditions. The result is an unusually American and hilarious Panto, with all of the traditional conventions, plus a rotating roster of local celebrities, pop culture references, and choirs of local schoolchildren, - a truly unique way to celebrate the season. Directed by Theatre Nova Artistic Director Carla Milarch, with Music Direction by R. MacKenzie Lewis "An Almost British Christmas" Runs November 27 thru December 20.

All performances are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $20. Theatre Nova memberships are available starting at $75. Theatre Nova's unique membership-based admission program gives members unlimited access to all of the shows in the season, plus staged readings, children's theater performances, classes, workshops, and more. Memberships can be acquired by contributing to the theater's Indiegogo campaign to renovate the theater at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/theatre-nova-new-plays-new-voices/x/8766562 or online at http://www.theatrenova.org/#!become-a-member/ci1v or by calling its box office at 734-635-8450.

Performances run Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 pm, with a 2 pm matinee on Sunday. Seating is general admission. Reservations can be made in advance by calling 734-635-8450, or online at www.theatrenova.org.

Theatre Nova is Michigan's only theater exclusively producing brand new plays. Its mission is to raise awareness of the value and excitement of new plays and new playwrights, and provide resources for playwrights to develop their craft, by importing, exporting, and developing new plays and playwrights. Its goal to create a sustainable theater for generations to come is built on the cornerstones of accessibility, transparency, artist-leadership, and equality. It is a nonprofit 501c(3) organization.

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