Fourth in line for the Throne of England, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, uses his cunning intelligence, fearsome charm, and political wit to overthrow all rivals that stand between him and the ultimate power.  One of the great villains of literature, Richard deftly manipulates his victims with fear, humor, and style bringing the audience along as accomplices to his worst crimes.  A striking study of politics, power, and the ambition needed for both, Richard III will make you enjoy the horrible and cheer for the scoundrel – until you don’t.

EPSG:4326

Richard III

Wayne State University

The War is over and the soldiers have just come home.  Now is the time for fun, frivolity and romance—until a disgraced soldier’s manipulations threaten the loyalty and friendship of army buddies and jeopardize the engagement of young lovers. Much Ado About Nothing is the romantic-comedy home of the “Merry War” between lovers Beatrice and Benedick and the intrigues of one of Shakespeare’s silliest pair of clowns: Dogberry and Verges.

Much Ado About Nothing

The War is over and the soldiers have just come home.  Now is the time for fun, frivolity and romance—until a disgraced soldier’s manipulations threaten the loyalty and friendship of army buddies and jeopardize the engagement of young lovers. Much Ado About Nothing is the romantic-comedy home of the “Merry War” between lovers Beatrice and Benedick and the intrigues of one of Shakespeare’s silliest pair of clowns: Dogberry and Verges.  

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The Artelize Podcast and Kasper Holten - Pedefining Opera for the modern world

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Society beaux Archer and Aimwell are on the hunt for rich wives to help them live in the manner to which they have been accustomed. When they arrive in the city of Litchfield and meet Dorinda and Kate, the shenanigans begin with clever lovers, saucy servants, acerbic toffs, and a silly band of brigands. Written in 1707 by Restoration playwright George Farquhar, The Beaux' Stratagem, subtitled for this production with A Comedy of Bad Manners, is a delightfully bright country romp with layers of satire and social commentary.

The Beaux' Stratagem

Something bad has happened to 9-year-old Amanda, and her toys— stuffed penguin Jonah; American Girl Doll Molly; trusted Diary; and newcomer Ugly, a weighted “emotional support” bunny— find their once-peaceful world thrown into darkness and chaos. A play about childhood, guns, and all the wounds we can’t see. An urgent and gorgeous world premiere of Soft Target will close the 10th Anniversary Season at DPT.

Soft Target

Detroit Public Theatre

The story’s reluctant hero, Juicy, a Black, queer, young man, is just trying to get his online degree in HR when his father’s ghost shows up, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. But can Juicy do what his father commands? A family cookout becomes a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy, and a strange, surprising and often hilarious journey. The New York Times called James Ijames’ Pulitzer-Prize winning Fat Ham, “A hilarious yet profound tragedy smothered in comedy.” See DPT’s take on the uproarious and brilliant award winning play that took Broadway by storm last season!

Fat Ham

City Hall is demanding more than his signature, the Landlord wants him out, the liquor store is closed — and the Church won’t leave him alone. For ex-cop & recent widower Walter “Pops” Washington and his recently paroled son Junior, when the struggle to hold on to one of the last great rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive collides with old wounds, sketchy new houseguests, and a final ultimatum, it seems the Old Days are dead and gone — after a lifetime living between Riverside and Crazy. Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Between Riverside and Crazy

Detroit Repertory Theatre

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage serves up a savory story of resilience, redemption, and the healing powers of food in Clyde’s. The formerly incarcerated kitchen staff of a truck-stop sandwich joint are on a mission to create the perfect sandwich—and to move forward from past lives that were far from perfect. Though Clyde, the shop’s formerly incarcerated owner, is a “second chance” employer who only hires people who’ve experienced incarceration, she never hesitates to remind her staff of just how precarious their lives are: how much they depend on her and the jobs she’s given them. Hope and humor are the main ingredients in this thoroughly entertaining—and thoroughly urgent—play. The Washington Post called this Pulitzer Prize-winning play a "highly entertaining comedy of kitchen nightmares".

Clyde’s

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright behind Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, and A View from the Bridge comes another masterpiece of American theater. All My Sons brings us into the Keller’s backyard, where a neighborhood is forced to reckon with buried truths. The fallout exposes the fault lines beneath their lives, leading to the unravelling of a family. 75 years later, this Arthur Miller classic still packs a strong emotional punch and reveals as much about today’s America as it did when it first premiered.

All My Sons

Music Hall Center

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Vanessa and Brian take a road trip in hopes of reinvigorating a flagging marriage. Lost in the California mountains, they arrive at the restaurant of a ski lodge in the middle of July. The restaurant is open for business although Vanessa and Brian appear to be its only customers. Three locals encountered by the couple – the owner of the lodge, a teenage waitress, and a resident ski-bum with a French accent – recognize Vanessa as their very dear friend Annabella, even though Vanessa’s shy, mousy personality is nothing like the descriptions of the amazing, vivacious and magical Annabella. However, in trying to assert that she is in no way like Annabella, Vanessa discovers her own magical powers – powers that could either save or destroy her twenty-year marriage. ANNABELLA IN JULY is a fast paced comedy from Richard Strand, the playwright who wrote THE REALIZATION OF EMILY LINDER, BUTLER, and BUZZ.

Annabella in July

After surviving a tragic and isolated childhood, an imaginative young Parisian named Amelie finds joy in anonymously doing good deeds for those around her. When a chance at love ends up hanging in the balance, will Amelia risk everything and speak with her heart? Colorful characters and a romantic score create a world of fantastical fun that inspires audiences to find happiness in their everyday lives.

Amélie

The Jenkins family is coming together to celebrate the life of their father, but their hopes for a peaceful reunion are dashed when a shocking family secret reveals itself at the funeral. As rivaling sisters Baneatta and Beverly navigate the challenges and tensions that arise during the funeral, they must deal with the shocking revelation, which could either bring them closer or tear them apart. "Chicken and Biscuits" by Douglas Lyons explores themes of love, forgiveness, and healing through the lens of a Black family's comedic and emotionally complex dynamics.

Chicken and Biscuits

With only days to go until Memphis’s annual “Hot Wang Festival,” things are heating up in Cordell’s kitchen. He and his crew are prepping to take home the crown when his boyfriend’s nephew shows up at the front door… Over the course of one weekend, the fate of the competition — and their relationships — is called into question. Will the crew make it to the festival? Will they make it at all? Christopher D. Betts (Trouble in Mind) is back to direct this 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy that celebrates the families we make and the risks we take.

The Hot Wing King

In a New York City apartment building bustling with news and gossip about the luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance, a close-knit group of friends has become a chosen family. New roommates Angel and Guy — a recently fired blues singer and a promising costume designer with Paris in his sights — live across the hall from Delia, a social worker who sparks a relationship with the hardworking doctor Sam. Their lives are upturned when Southern newcomer Leland arrives and falls hard for Angel, who is torn between a stable life in Manhattan and an exhilarating overseas adventure with Guy. Angel chooses her path, but the decision leads to devastating consequences that shift the trajectory of everyone’s futures and long-held dreams. This modern classic by celebrated native Detroit playwright Pearl Cleage has profound relevance to our current times even as it is set during the Harlem Renaissance on the cusp of the Great Depression.

Blues For An Alabama Sky

Set in 1911, a group of strangers share a boarding house as they search for lost ones, love, work, identity and their place in America. Herald Loomis arrives at Seth and Bertha’s house with his young daughter, Zonia, in search of his wife. Resident “conjure man” Bynum shows him that he is really searching for himself.  JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE is the second play in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, following African American life experiences, decade by decade.

August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone

A snowdrift stops the luxurious Orient Express in its tracks at midnight. By dawn, an American tycoon is found murdered in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times with his door locked from the inside. The passengers of the train are now isolated with a killer among them, leaving detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer and prevent another attack from taking place. Can you solve this Agatha Christie whodunit before the rest of the guests on the Orient Express?

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express

Simona’s father is an enigma. Curious about his life in Latin America before moving to the United States, Simona obsesses over his secrets as her thoughts and dreams become haunted by the mystery that is his past. Simona’s Search is a riveting exploration of the bond between fathers and daughters, love and sacrifice, nature and nurture. From the writer and producer of Netflix’s Ozark comes this gripping world premiere.

Simona’s Search

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG tells the story of Lincoln and Booth as they struggle with work, women, and abandonment. Lincoln, who works at an arcade as a whiteface Abraham Lincoln impersonator, lives with his brother, Booth. The latter dreams about hitting the big time as a Three-Card Monte hustler, a preoccupation Lincoln once excelled in. They dream and scheme for a better life, while the ghosts of their past haunt them. Winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Play events in Detroit, MI

Richard III

Michigan Shakespeare Festival

Much Ado About Nothing

Michigan Shakespeare Festival

Richard III

Michigan Shakespeare Festival

Much Ado About Nothing

Michigan Shakespeare Festival

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast - A ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast: A l...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

The Beaux' Stratagem

Michigan Shakespeare Festival

The Beaux' Stratagem

Michigan Shakespeare Festival

Soft Target

Detroit Public Theatre

Fat Ham

Detroit Public Theatre

Between Riverside and Cra...

Detroit Repertory Theatre

Clyde’s

Detroit Public Theatre

All My Sons

Hartford Stage Company

Annabella in July

Detroit Repertory Theatre

Amélie

Wayne State University Department of The...

Chicken and Biscuits

Wayne State University Department of The...

The Hot Wing King

Hartford Stage Company

Blues For An Alabama Sky

Detroit Public Theatre

August Wilson's Joe Turne...

Detroit Repertory Theatre

Agatha Christie's Murder ...

Wayne State University Department of The...

Simona’s Search

Hartford Stage Company

Topdog/Underdog

Detroit Repertory Theatre