CHELSEA — The Purple Rose Theatre Company (PRTC) has selected a thrilling lineup of plays for its 32nd season, featuring three world premieres and a Michigan premiere play. PRTC Founder and Artistic Director, Jeff Daniels, kicks off the season with his twentieth world premiere play for The Purple Rose, “Pickleball”. Midwest playwright Eric Pfeffinger’s play, “Human Error”, makes its Michigan premiere in Winter 2023. Quinn D. Eli, originally from the Bronx, NYC and now resides in Pennsylvania, brings his world premiere play, “In Common”, to the PRTC stage next Spring. Veteran Chicagoan actor and playwright Paul Stroili’s play “A Jukebox for the Algonquin” (a world premiere play) rounds out the 2022-2023 season.
“Pickleball” a world premiere by Jeff Daniels
directed by Rhiannon Ragland
(September 30 – December 17, 2022)
In a wild comedy about America’s fastest growing sport, four below average players must overcome their own limitations in order to achieve greatness in a game that has nothing to do with pickles.
*Contains adult language and content.
“Human Error” a Michigan premiere by Eric Pfeffinger
directed by Lynch R. Travis
(February 3 – March 18, 2023)
Madelyn and Keenan are NPR-listening, latte-sipping blue-staters who are planning a family. Or they were, anyway, until the fertility clinic screwed up and accidentally implanted their fertilized embryo in another uterus — a uterus belonging to a small-government churchgoing NRA cardholder. Can these ideologically hostile couples make it together through nine months of gestation without killing each other?
*Contains adult language & content.
“In Common” a world premiere by Quinn D. Eli
directed by Rhiannon Ragland
(April 21 – June 3, 2023)
Melanie is haunted by a voice that won’t leave her head. Call it a ghost, a hallucination, or clear evidence of a mental collapse. Either way, it’s a lingering reminder of a friend who was killed years ago; the friend was black, Melanie is white, and questions about why it happened – and who was to blame – come newly into focus when Melanie is drawn into a relationship that offers her a brighter future, but no clear escape from the past.
*Contains adult language & content.
“A Jukebox for the Algonquin” a world premiere by Paul Stroili
directed by TBA
(July 7 – September 2, 2023)
At a senior living community in the Adirondacks, a small group of residents decide they’re not quite ready to “go gentle into that good night.” This band of displaced former city dwellers from Brooklyn and The Bronx hatch a plot to prove that aging is not a New York state of mind. “A Jukebox for the Algonquin” is a tale about those who will not be forgotten – a serious comedy about sex, drugs, and rocking chairs.
*Contains adult language & content.
Underwriting support for the Purple Rose 2022-2023 season comes from the Ford Motor Company Fund, The Hamp Family, Michigan Arts & Culture Council, National Endowment for the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, and The Matilda R. Wilson Fund. Media sponsors include ChelseaMich.com, HOME.fm, JTV.TV, and Michigan Radio.
Ticket Information
Regular performances are 8:00 pm Thursday through Saturday, 3:00 pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, and 2:00 pm Sunday. Special discounts are available for the first week of previews and for students, seniors, teachers, veterans/military personnel and groups. Prices range from $26-$51. Tickets can be purchased for groups of 12 or more starting on Friday, July 1 at 1:00pm. PRTC donors of $250 or more can purchase tickets two weeks in advance of general ticket sales, which are available approximately six weeks before each show opens. Patrons can purchase tickets at the box office, by phone (734) 433-7673 or online at www.purplerosetheatre.org.
The Purple Rose Theatre Company is located at 137 Park Street, Chelsea, Michigan 48118.
About the Purple Rose Theatre Company
Founded in 1991 by actor, playwright, musician and Chelsea native, Jeff Daniels, the Purple Rose Theatre Company is a creative home for original American plays. In the 168-seat theatre, patrons experience an intimate encounter with live theatre. The PRTC also provides classes, readings, lectures and tours. It commissions new work from established and early-career playwrights. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit professional theatre, the PRTC operates under a Small Professional Theatre agreement with the Actors’ Equity Association.
