ANN ARBOR – Theatre NOVA, Ann Arbor’s professional theatre with an exclusive focus on new plays and playwrights, presents the Michigan premiere of “Apple Season” by E. M. Lewis.
When her father dies, Lissie returns to her family’s apple orchard after escaping from there with her brother Roger many years before. But a chance encounter with an old flame conjures haunting family secrets she thought she’d left behind. As Lissie tumbles down a rabbit hole of memory and grief, she must choose whether to preserve her tangled past–or burn it to the ground.
Directed by David Wolber (Admissions, Stargazers, The How and the Why), featuring Alysia Kolascz (Bright Half Life), Matthew Swift, and Jeremy Kucharek (Admissions). The production and design team includes Monica Spencer (scenic design), Daniel C. Walker(lighting design), Angeline Fox Maniglia (costume design), Carla Milarch (sound design), and Briana O’Neal (stage manager/props).
“Apple Season” will run Jan. 31 through Feb. 23, 2020, at Theatre NOVA (410 W. Huron, Ann Arbor), a downtown performance space. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday matinees are at 2:00 p.m. Theatre NOVA features free parking for patrons, as well as quick access to the city’s restaurants, bars, bakeries, and coffee shops.
Tickets are $22, and Theatre NOVA continues its commitment to making theatre accessible by offering pay-what-you-can tickets for those who need them. For tickets, visit TheatreNOVA.org, call 734-635-8450 or buy them in person at the box office one hour before showtime.
Theatre NOVA is Ann Arbor’s resident professional theatre company. Its mission is to raise awareness of the value and excitement of new plays and playwrights and provide resources for playwrights to develop their craft by importing, exporting, and developing new work.
E.M. Lewis is an award-winning playwright, teacher, and opera librettist. Her work has been produced around the world, and published by Samuel French. She received an Edgerton Award for the world premiere of her epic play “Magellanica” at Artists Repertory Theater, the Steinberg Award for “Song of Extinction” and the Primus Prize for Heads from the American Theater Critics Association, the Ted Schmitt Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for outstanding writing of a world premiere play for “Song of Extinction,” a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, a playwriting fellowship from the New Jersey State Arts Commission, and the 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowship in Drama. “Now Comes the Night” was part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival in Washington DC, and was published in the anthology Best Plays from Theater Festivals 2016. “The Gun Show” has since been produced in more than thirty theaters across the country, as well as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and was published in The Best American Short Plays 2015-2016 and by Samuel French. In 2019, “Apple Season” had a rolling world premiere at New Jersey Repertory Theater, Riverside Theater, and Moving Arts. “How the Light Gets In” had its world premiere at Boston Court Pasadena in the fall of 2019. Other plays by Lewis include: “Infinite Black Suitcase,” “The Study (aka Reading to Vegetables),” “True Story,” and “You Can See All the Stars” (a play for college students commissioned by the Kennedy Center). An opera that Lewis wrote with composer Theo Popov will be produced at Willamette University this year, after its debut last year at University of Maryland. Lewis is currently working on a full-length, family-friendly opera with composer Evan Meier, commissioned by American Lyric Theater, called “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant,” and a big, new political play set in her home state of Oregon called “The Great Divide.” She is a proud member of LineStorm Playwrights and the Dramatists Guild. She lives on her family’s farm in Oregon.
David Wolber (Director) is a freelance actor, director, and a Producing Artistic Director at Theatre NOVA. He was the Artistic Director at Performance Network (2007-2014). Recently, he appeared in “Williston” by Adam Seidel and “Evidence of Things Unseen” by Katie Forgette at Detroit Repertory Theatre and “The Snow Geese” by Sharr White at Meadow Brook Theatre. This season he directed “Admissions” by Joshua Harmon and last season “Stargazers” by Reina Hardy and “The How and the Why” by Sarah Treem at Theatre NOVA. He also directed and co-devised “Dream Deferred: Detroit, 1967” at Matrix Theatre. In 2018 he received a Wilde Award Best Play for directing “The Revolutionists“ by Lauren Gunderson at Theatre NOVA. In 2017 he received three Wilde Awards: Best Teamwork for “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” at Meadow Brook Theatre, Best One Person Show for directing “2.5 Minute Ride” at Matrix Theatre, and Best Actor as Winston in “1984” by George Orwell – adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan at Williamston Theatre. David has performed and directed at many professional theatres across Michigan, including Tipping Point Theatre, Jewish Ensemble Theatre, Performance Network Theatre, Boarshead Theatre, as well as at the Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland. David is an alumnus of Wayne State’s theatre program, a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and an Associate Producer on Jasmine Rivera’s short film “American Prophet.” davidwolber.com
FACT SHEET
WHO:
Cast:
Lissie: Alysia Kolascz
Billy: Jeremy Kucharek
Roger: Matthew Swift
Production Team:
Director: David Wolber
Set design/dresser/painter: Monica Spencer
Lighting design: Daniel C. Walker
Costume design: Angeline Fox Maniglia
Sound design: Carla Milarch
Stage Management/Props: Briana O’Neal
WHAT:
“Apple Season” by E. M. Lewis
Theatre NOVA, 410 W. Huron, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Box office: 734-635-8450, www.theatreNOVA.org
Tickets: $22 (Pay-what-you-can tickets available for every performance)
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
APPLE SEASON
Jan. 31 – Feb. 23, 2020
Fri., Jan. 31, 8:00 p.m. Opening Night
Sat., Feb. 1, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 2, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Feb. 6, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 7, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 8, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 9, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Feb. 13, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 14, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 15, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 16, 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Feb. 20, 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 21, 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 22, 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 23, 2:00 p.m.
Theatre Nova
410 W. Huron St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
734-635-8450
