Theare Nova and Ellipsis Theatre Announce Partnership in 2017 at the Yellow Barn

Theatre Nova, Ann Arbor's professional playwrights' theater, now in its second year of operations, and Ellipsis Theatre, Scott Screws and Joanna Hastings' company (reinstated after a hiatus of almost a decade) have announced that they will share the theatre space at the Yellow Barn, a 2,500 square foot space located at 410 West Huron, in 2017.

This innovative space-sharing partnership will complete the conversion of the barn into a year-round venue for Live Theatre, offering 10 fully-produced shows for a total of 32 weeks of theater in 2017, in addition to continuing to offer live music and stand-up comedy events and host the Greenroom church on Monday nights. Theatre Nova will produce 6 shows, running for 4 to 5 weeks each, Ellipsis will produce 4 shows, running for 3 weeks each. Both companies will announce their 2017 seasons later this year.

The two theater companies will bring very different types of offerings to the Yellow Barn stage, alternating their productions monthly throughout the year. The artists behind both companies have deep roots in the former Performance Network Theatre: Nova founders Carla Milarch and Daniel Walker having been its Artistic Directors and Ellipsis' Hastings and Screws having acted, directed, and produced on its stages. However, both of the new companies have distinctly different foci: Theatre Nova is making a name for hot-off-the-press new works, with plays such as the new musical "Irrational" by David Wells and R. MacKenzie Lewis, and local playwright Kim Carney's poignant new work, "Katherine", both recent critical and box office hits. Ellipsis by contrast has a focus on "telling the old stories in new ways," and will include classics and modern spins on traditional tales in its repertoire.

Says Founding Artistic Director Milarch, "Theatre Nova has absolutely loved The Yellow Barn as a theater venue and we see this collaboration as an opportunity to expand the type of plays that audiences can see there. Together, our two companies' programmatic profiles offer a variety of offerings, from world premieres to classics. We'd love to see The Yellow Barn become Ann Arbor's "go-to" home for theatre in 2017, where you can count on catching a great show in an intimate setting all year long." Hastings adds, "Breathing new life into Ellipsis Theatre at this time and in this place is a dream come true. We're excited to be working in partnership with Nova, and beyond excited to share our passion for powerful theatre with Ann Arbor again."

This unique collaboration evolved from a guest production of "Macbeth" that Hastings and Screws staged at The Yellow Barn in January of 2016, which was a tremendous success, artistically and at the box office. Hastings, the former head of school at Summers-Knoll in Ann Arbor, who recently made the decision to re-invigorate the former Ellipsis company, found the Yellow Barn space comfortable and conducive to the type of theater she envisioned. Since moving into the space in January of 2015, Theatre Nova has made numerous upgrades to the space, turning the barn into a unique, 85-seat "micro-theatre" complete with prop/costume storage and shop, rehearsal hall, dressing rooms, lobby, comfortable raised seating, around a 3/4 "thrust" stage (with seating on three sides), and a new ADA compliant wheelchair ramp on the front of the building.

The partnership will also impact both companies' sustainability in a positive way. In addition to sharing the spaces the barn offers, the companies will also share back-office services such as box office, online ticketing, office equipment and more. Milarch states "I believe that this type of collaboration is the wave of the future, as it enables both of us to stay true to mission and do the type of intelligent work that engages our audiences, without having to make artistic compromises in order to stay alive."

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 and outlets 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 four cornerstones of accessibility, transparency, artist-leadership, and equality.

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