Matrix Announces Female-centric 2018-2019 Season
By: Stephi Wild Sep. 13, 2018
Female-identifying playwrights and directors are at the forefront of Matrix Theatre Company's 2018-2019 Mainstage Season. This exciting selection of carefully-chosen plays spans a broad range of topics designed to encourage audiences to examine their own beliefs and their reaction to information presented to them in their daily lives. Individual ticket sales will go on sale Monday, September 17. Ticket prices start at $17. Mainstage Flex Passes may be purchased at
a reduced rate. Group rates are available for most shows. For further information on
the 2018-2019 season, or to order tickets, go to www.matrixtheatre.org, or
call 313 967 0599.
Kicking off the season is the Michigan Premiere of Rachel Lynett's Well-Intentioned White People, which examines how good intentions, however well intended, may not always have good results. Caity-Shea Violette's humorous and human Reap the Grove, looks at the relationships of a broken and dysfunctional family returning home to wait out their mother's final days. The Interference by Lynda Radley is an entertaining and highly-theatrical take on the public and private workings of sexual assault accusations between star college athletes. Closing out the season is the World Premiere of local playwright Kelly Rossi's newest play, Mr. Washington Goes to Bed. This comedy will have audiences in stitches.
"It is common knowledge that gender disparity exists in the theatre and Matrix is actively working to provide opportunities for local female-identifying artists to come together and work collaboratively. Our entire staff understands first-hand the strength and power that can be created in that environment," said Matrix Artistic Director Megan Buckley-Ball.
2018-2019 Season Selection -
Well-Intentioned White People
Michigan Premiere!
November 9 - December 2, 2018
After an attack influenced by her race, an African American university professor wants to forget about it and move on with her life. When her (white) roommate and the dean of the school push her to "make an example of it," she finds herself suddenly roped into planning a diversity day, trying to convince her roommate not to plan a sit-in, and attempting to maintain her sanity as the racial threats begin to escalate. Well-Intentioned White People explores how some people deal with discrimination not necessarily directed at them and how their "good intentions" can sometimes be just as problematic.
Reap the Grove
By Caity-Shea Violette
Michigan Premiere!
February 1 - 24, 2019
An estranged family reunites for their mother's final days before she ends her life on her own terms following a terminal diagnosis. Beyond returning to their toxic childhood home, both daughters are in personal moments of transformation, one passionately committed to saving the planet even if she can't save her marriage, the other having only recently found success in substance abuse treatment and arriving at the door six months pregnant. Reap the Grove is a poignant and darkly funny exploration of partnership, transgenerational trauma, and the anticipated grief of death with dignity.
The Interference
By Lynda Radley
March 22 - April 14, 2019
In a culture of amplified voices, internet trolls, "fake news," and media distortion, where student-athletes are hailed as celebrities, everyone has an incentive to bury the truth. When a survivor speaks up, can her truth rise above the noise? The Interference is a story for a world in the midst of a tectonic cultural shift that is shaking our patriarchal society to its core.
Mr. Washington Goes to Bed
By local playwright Kelly Rossi
World Premiere!
May 17 - June 9, 2019
Faced with the sub-par elder-care facility options available to them, two sisters enroll their octogenarian father into a new and "radical" one-on-one medical program that involves housing him with a doctor no longer practicing medicine. Much to one sister's chagrin, their father even seems to enjoy the experience. Local playwright Kelly Rossi's newest play explores the benefits and landmines of human interaction that are unearthed when the people involved are used to existing on the outskirts of real life.
Celebrating more than 28 years as a non-profit, community-based theatre, Matrix Theatre Company is located in southwest Detroit and uses the transformative power of theatre to change lives, build community, and foster social justice. For further information or to follow Matrix on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Blogger, go to matrixtheatre.org. Matrix Theatre is funded, in part, by Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Kresge Foundation, and the Erb Family Foundation.
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